Three local universities — George Mason University, Georgetown University and Towson University — are on the list of schools being investigated by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.
The Department of Education launched civil rights investigations into 45 universities, including three D.C.-area schools, on Friday over allegations that those schools had violated Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
According to a press release from the department, the alleged violations happened because the universities worked with "The PhD Project," a relatively small organization aimed at helping underrepresented students obtain doctoral degrees.
"Through conferences, mentoring, and networking, The PhD Project encourages and supports historically underrepresented candidates on their journey to acquiring a PhD," the organization says on its website. "We are a critical bridge between businesses and our alumni PhDs and their students, providing connections to high-potential recruits."
The organization was founded in 1994, and has helped 1,500 members earn a PhD in that 21-year period, the website says.
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Many of those members earned their doctoral degrees in business, then went on to enter higher education.
In helping members of the organization network and get tips on how to navigate graduate school, the PhD project says, they create "more diverse business faculty ... inspiring new generations of future leaders, bringing diversity to our workforce, and creating a better world for all of us."
According to the Department of Education, the organization "limits eligibility based on the race of participants," which means each of the 45 schools being investigated was "allegedly engaging in race-exclusionary practices in their graduate programs," the release says.
The release cites a "Dear Colleague" policy memo sent from the Office of Civil Rights to a wide variety of education institutions on Feb. 14.
That letter gave a Feb. 28 deadline "to end diversity programs or risk having their federal money pulled by the Trump administration," according to the Associated Press.
"Discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin is illegal and morally reprehensible," the letter begins. "Accordingly, I write to clarify and reaffirm the nondiscrimination obligations of schools and other entities that receive federal financial assistance from the United States Department of Education."
The memo cites Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard, the 2023 Supreme Court decision overturning 45 years of legal precedent in support of affirmative action, as a framework for considering race in education programs, and states that DEI programs "frequently preference certain racial groups."
The release mentions that letter as the particular clarifying document that "reiterated schools’ civil rights obligations," before describing the alleged civil rights violations of the 45 schools being investigated.
Here is the full list of all 45 schools. The three D.C.-area schools have been bolded by News4.
- Arizona State University – Main Campus
- Boise State University
- Cal Poly Humboldt
- California State University – San Bernadino
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Clemson University
- Cornell University
- Duke University
- Emory University
- George Mason University
- Georgetown University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- Montana State University-Bozeman
- New York University (NYU)
- Rice University
- Rutgers University
- The Ohio State University – Main Campus
- Towson University
- Tulane University
- University of Arkansas – Fayetteville
- University of California-Berkeley
- University of Chicago
- University of Cincinnati – Main Campus
- University of Colorado – Colorado Springs
- University of Delaware
- University of Kansas
- University of Kentucky
- University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
- University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
- University of Nebraska at Omaha
- University of New Mexico – Main Campus
- University of North Dakota – Main Campus
- University of North Texas – Denton
- University of Notre Dame
- University of NV – Las Vegas
- University of Oregon
- University of Rhode Island
- University of Utah
- University of Washington-Seattle
- University of Wisconsin-Madison
- University of Wyoming
- Vanderbilt University
- Washington State University
- Washington University in St. Louis
- Yale University
The same Department of Education press release announced that the Office of Civil Rights is investigating six other schools for "allegedly awarding impermissible race-based scholarships and one university for allegedly administering a program that segregates students on the basis of race."
Here are those six schools:
- Grand Valley State University
- Ithaca College
- New England College of Optometry
- University of Alabama
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
- University of South Florida
- University of Oklahoma, Tulsa School of Community Medicine
"The Department is working to reorient civil rights enforcement to ensure all students are protected from illegal discrimination," Linda McMahon, the new education secretary, said in part in the release. "Students must be assessed according to merit and accomplishment, not prejudged by the color of their skin. We will not yield on this commitment."
