The Department of Education (DOE) has launched a discrimination investigation into the University of Rhode Island over its use of race and sex-based scholarship programs.
The investigation from the DOE’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) comes after the Equal Protection Project (EPP) filed a federal complaint against the university over scholarship offerings that excluded would-be applicants on the basis of their race or sex.
“OCR will investigate whether the University discriminates on the basis of race, color, or national origin by administering the scholarships” and will also investigate “whether the University discriminates on the basis of sex through other scholarship programs,” the DOE said in a letter.
The announcement comes as the diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda has embedded itself throughout higher education, oftentimes informing the selection criteria for…
