Equal Protection Project OCR Complaint Against North Central University

THE EQUAL PROTECTION PROJECT
A Project of the Legal Insurrection Foundation

18 MAPLE AVE. #280
BARRINGTON, RI 02806
www.EqualProtect.org
March 25, 2024
BY EMAIL ([email protected])
U. S. Department of Education
Office for Civil Rights – Chicago Office
John C. Kluczynski Federal Building
230 S. Dearborn Street, 37th Floor
Chicago, IL 60604
Re: Civil Rights Complaint Against North Central University Regarding Race-
Based Undergraduate Scholarship
To Whom It May Concern:
This is a federal civil rights complaint pursuant to the U.S. Department of Education’s
Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) discrimination complaint resolution procedures. See 42 U.S.C. §
2000d-1; 34 C.F.R. §§ 100.7, 100.8, and 100.9.
We write on behalf of the Equal Protection Project of the Legal Insurrection Foundation,
a non-profit that, among other things, seeks to ensure equal protection under the law and non-
discrimination by the government, and that opposes racial discrimination in any form.
We bring this civil rights complaint against North Central University (“NCU”) for
creating, supporting and promoting the George Floyd Memorial Scholarship – an undergraduate
scholarship that engages in invidious discrimination on the basis of race, color and national
origin.
U.S. Dept. of Education, Office for Civil Rights
Administrative Complaint Against North Central University
March 25, 2024
Page 2 of 5
The George Floyd Memorial Scholarship
According NCU’s website, the George Floyd Memorial Scholarship (“GFMS”) was
created on June 4, 2020 as “a way to invest in a new generation of young Black Americans,” “to
increase our number of Black students who will impact the learning environment in a positive
manner,” and to “[d]iversify[ ] our learning environment.” 1
The scholarship “is a four-year, full-tuition scholarship awarded to one student each year
based on two community recommendations and a written essay.” 2 To be eligible for the GFMS,
an applicant must be an undergraduate student who is “Black or African American, that is, a
person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.” 3
1
See https://www.northcentral.edu/george-floyd-scholarship-fund [https://archive.is/w8chj] (accessed on
Mar. 23, 2023).
2
See https://www.northcentral.edu/george-floyd-scholarship-fund/george-floyd-memorial-scholarship-
application/ [https://archive.is/RjlNB] (accessed on Mar. 23, 2024).
3
Id.
March 25, 2024
Page 4 of 5
funded programs,” and thus applies to universities receiving federal financial assistance). As
NCU receives federal funds, 5 it is subject to Title VI. 6
It does not matter if the recipient of federal funding discriminates in order to advance a
benign “intention” or “motivation.” Bostock v. Clayton Cty., 140 S. Ct. 1731, 1742 (2020)
(“Intentionally burning down a neighbor’s house is arson, even if the perpetrator’s ultimate
intention (or motivation) is only to improve the view.”); accord Automobile Workers v. Johnson
Controls, Inc., 499 U. S. 187, 199 (1991) (“the absence of a malevolent motive does not convert
a facially discriminatory policy into a neutral policy with a discriminatory effect” or “alter [its]
intentionally discriminatory character”). “Nor does it matter if the recipient discriminates against
an individual member of a protected class with the idea that doing so might favor the interests of
that class as a whole or otherwise promote equality at the group level.” Students for Fair
Admissions v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, 2023 U.S. LEXIS 2791, at *154 (2023)
(Gorsuch, J., concurring).
Simply put, “Title VI prohibits a recipient of federal funds from intentionally treating any
individual worse even in part because of his race, color, or national origin and without regard to
any other reason or motive the recipient might assert.” Id. at *170 (cleaned up). Thus, regardless
of NCU’s reasons for sponsoring and promoting the GFMS, it is violating Title VI by doing so.
OCR Has Jurisdiction
OCR has jurisdiction over this complaint. NCU is a public institution and a recipient of
federal funds. It is therefore liable for violating Title VI.
The Complaint Is Timely
This complaint is timely brought because it includes allegations of discrimination based

on race, color and national origin that occurred within the last 180 days and is ongoing. Indeed,
the application period for GFMS for the 2024-25 academic year is still open, and the scholarship
recipient will be selected by June 7, 2024. 7
5
See https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display audit/6146420221 [https://archive.is/Qp3mt]
(accessed on Mar. 24, 2024).
6
Additionally, although OCR does not enforce Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, that statute makes
it unlawful to discriminate on the basis of race or color in a place of “public accommodation,” such as
NCU. 42 U.S.C. § 2000a(a). Similarly, the GFMS defies the civil rights protections of Minnesota’s
Human Rights Act, which makes it a criminal offense for an educational institution to limit access to any
educational program on the basis of race. Minn. Stat. §§ 363A.13 (1)-(4), 363A.30(4), as well as NCU’s
own non-discrimination policy. See https://tinyurl.com/3h3vyfsx [https://archive.is/38pxf] (accessed on
Mar. 24, 2023).
7
See https://www.northcentral.edu/george-floyd-scholarship-fund/george-floyd-memorial-scholarship-
application/ [https://archive.is/RjlNB] (accessed on Mar. 23, 2024).
March 25, 2024
Page 5 of 5
Request For Investigation And Enforcement
In Richmond v. J. A. Croson Co., Justice Scalia aptly noted that “discrimination on the
basis of race is illegal, immoral, unconstitutional, inherently wrong and destructive of a
democratic society.” 488 U.S. at 505 (citation omitted). This is true regardless of which race
suffers – discrimination against white applicants is just as unlawful as discrimination against
black or other non-white applicants.
The Office for Civil Rights has the power and obligation to investigate NCU’s role in
participating in, sponsoring, supporting and promoting the GFMS – and to discern whether NCU
is engaging in such discrimination in its other activities – and to impose whatever remedial relief
is necessary to hold it accountable for that unlawful conduct. This includes, if necessary,
imposing fines, initiating administrative proceedings to suspend or terminate federal financial
assistance and referring the case to the Department of Justice for judicial proceedings to enforce
the rights of the United States under federal law. After all, “[t]he way to stop discrimination on
the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Parents Involved in Cmty. Sch.,
551 U.S. at 748.
Accordingly, we respectfully ask the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights
to impose remedial relief as the law permits for the benefit of those who have been illegally
excluded from NCU’s George Floyd Memorial Scholarship based on racially discriminatory
criteria, and to ensure that all ongoing and future programming through that university comport
with federal civil rights laws.
Sincerely,
Ameer Benno, Esq.

The Equal Protection Project
[email protected]
-And-
William A. Jacobson, Esq.

President
Legal Insurrection Foundation
[email protected]

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THE EQUAL PROTECTION PROJECT

A Project of the Legal Insurrection Foundation

March 25, 2024

To Whom It May Concern:

The George Floyd Memorial Scholarship

OCR Has Jurisdiction

The Complaint Is Timely

This complaint is timely brought because it includes allegations of discrimination based

Request For Investigation And Enforcement

Ameer Benno, Esq.

William A. Jacobson, Esq.

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