The Equal Protection Project filed a civil rights complaint regarding 32 scholarships at Florida State University. The case was recently opened for investigation by the U.S. Department of Education. For details on the scholarships, EPP’s Civil Rights Complaint, and the opening of the investigation, see our prior post, Dept. Education To Investigate 32 Florida State Discriminatory Scholarships After Equal Protection Project Complaint.
What’s most interesting about this case is how Florida State included the discriminatory donor intent in the description of the scholarships. For example:
Crockett Family Fund for Excellence
Link: https://fsu.academicworks.com/opportunities/35068 Archived Link: https://archive.ph/wip/iVg3o
Discriminatory Requirement: “Any student may apply to be considered for the award; however, it is the preference of the donor that the recipient be an African American/Black student.” [emphasis added]
Yet Florida State in statements to the media says the scholarships are open to everyone. Why then would Florida State include that donor intent language in the description if Florida State did not intend to honor that donor intent? And even if Florida State disregarded the donor intent, including that donor intent in the scholarship description would dissuade other groups from applying.
This presents a very major problem for universities: Must they honor discriminatory donor intent? This puts the universities between a rock (the law) and a hard place (contractual donor intent).
I had a chance to discuss the case with Eben Brown on the Fox News Rundown podcast.
The Trump administration has opened a federal civil rights investigation into Florida State University (FSU) over 32 scholarships accused of discriminating against students based on race or sex, according to a Department of Education (DOE). The investigation stems from a July 2025 complaint filed by the Equal Protection Project (EPP) that targeted 32 FSU scholarships. The DOE’s lists all 32 programs and confirms FSU is a recipient of federal financial assistance and therefore must comply with Title VI and Title IX.
FOX’s Eben Brown speaks with Professor William Jacobson, founder and president of the Equal Protection Project (EPP) and Cornell Law professor, who says that FSU stood out even among the hundreds of colleges and universities his organization has challenged.
Among the issues we discussed is how promoting scholarships in a discriminatory manner in and of itself is a violation of law, and how it makes no legal difference that it’s private money since the scholarship are run through the university. Listen below (sorry, no transcript).
[If audio player does not load, click here]
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