(The Hill) — An anti-diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) group on Wednesday sued the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) for excluding non-Hispanic students from funding opportunities.
The American Alliance for Equal Rights alleged the HSF was violating the Civil Rights Act of 1866 by not offering benefits to all.
According to the lawsuit, the group has awarded more than $750 million in scholarships to more than 65,000 students. Winners receive a range of prizes, from “lucrative scholarships, to exclusive mentorship opportunities, to private seminars and more.”
The American Alliance for Equal Rights says two students who are members of their organization “are being harmed” by the HSF’s ethnic requirements.
“HSF is intentionally discriminating based on ethnicity,” the American Alliance for Equal Rights’ lawyers wrote, citing a previous case against Oberlin College, denoting proof of a facially discriminatory policy as “direct evidence of discriminatory intent.”
The case coincides with the Trump administration’s crackdown on DEI, which has been supported by many conservative activists but opposed by others.
Justin Driver, a law professor at Yale University and the author of “The Fall of Affirmative Action,” called the lawsuit “the latest salvo in a larger era of racial revanchism” in comments to The New York Times.
“I believe that our nation confronts many profound problems today,” he said. “The idea that there are too many Latinos receiving college scholarships would, I believe, rank high on very few people’s lists.”
The American Alliance for Equal Rights is requesting a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction preventing HSF from closing the current application window or selecting winners while the court considers the merits, among other forms of relief.