FIX EXCLUSIVES
Civil rights experts say program could be ‘violating the law’
The “Black Scholars Matter” program at California State University Northridge violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 according to a new federal complaint shared with The College Fix.
Civil rights activist Mark Perry filed a complaint against the program, which he called a “racially exclusionary program that illegally excludes and discriminates against non-Black students.”
He cited evidence found on the program’s website, including the program’s description, comments from the founder, and promotional videos featuring exclusively black students.
“CSUN offers, operates, administers, and promotes the racially discriminatory program Black Scholars Matter,” Perry, a senior fellow with Do No Harm, wrote in the complaint filed with the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Education. “As the program name indicates, it serves as a targeted program for Black students/scholars.”
Benefits of the program include priority class registration, personalized tutoring, and a “study space rooted in cultural design that promotes a sense of belonging,” according to the website.
Campus officials did not respond to emails and phone calls in the past week that sought comment on the legality of the program. Media relations director Carmen Chandler did not respond to requests for comment, nor did General Counsel Andrew Jones.
Program Director Theresa White also did not respond to similar questions.
However, she outlined her goals for the program on the university’s website, saying she hopes to “increase the pipeline of students of African descent on campus.”
In addition, she wants “to champion Black student success through a holistic ego-system of support, and to serve as a staunch advocate for student well-being, activism and empowerment.”
In a news release announcing the program, White said the school created the initiative to “meet the needs of students of African descent.”
“Black Scholars Matter is a holistic, wrap-around program with an eco-system of support that includes tuition (above and beyond grants received specifically for tuition), intellectual, mental/emotional, spiritual and physical support for the students who are accepted to the program,” White said.
The news release also stated that, at the time, the program received partial funding from the school’s DEI grants. One of its partners includes Minority Male Mentoring, an on-campus program that “helps minority males succeed in college and in their career.”
The program’s description states that its goal is to cultivate “Black Excellence” for those “who embrace the Black experience.”
Other civil rights experts raised concerns in comments to The Fix.
Shawna Bray, general counsel at the Center for Equal Opportunity, said the program is trying to “evade legal scrutiny” by using “ineffective hedging language.”
“It appears the school is attempting to evade legal scrutiny for a program that is intended to discriminate against students on the basis of race and provide services exclusively to students who are from preferred racial and ethnic backgrounds through frankly ineffective hedging language,” Bray told The Fix via email.
Bray also pointed out that CSUN’s student population is 56.3 percent Hispanic, according to the university.
“The result here is that students who are minority, but from an apparently disfavored ethnic background like Hispanic students are the ones excluded from the program,” Bray said.
Gail Heriot, law professor and member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, says the program should be investigated for violations of the California Constitution in addition to Title VI.
“Whenever students of one race receive benefits that are not available to students of other races at a California public university, it’s a violation of the part of the California Constitution put there by Proposition 209,” Heriot, a University of San Diego scholar, said in emailed comments to The Fix.
“What’s particularly worrisome here is that the students in the Black Scholars Matter videos say they are receiving financial aid in connection with the program,” Heriot said.
“If the university is making that financial aid available only to students based on their race, it is violating the law.”
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IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: A logo for the Black Scholars Matter program at California State University Northridge; California State University Northridge
