Young America’s Foundation (YAF), which describes itself as the leading organization for young conservatives, sued the Department of Education, alleging a grant program violates the equal protection clause because its eligibility is based on race. YAF challenged the department’s McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program which provided $60 million in 2023 to approximately 6,000 students.
The Department of Education describes the program as a grant competition in which funds are awarded to colleges and universities to prepare participants for doctoral studies through research and other scholarly activities.
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To be eligible, at least two-thirds of the participants in a project must be low-income, potential first-generation college students. The remaining participants may be from groups that are underrepresented in graduate education.
“Defendants say these racial exclusions are necessary to racially balance the number of graduate students in America by giving a preference to so-called ‘underrepresented’ students,” YAF wrote in a court filing. “But make no mistake: the word ‘underrepresented’ is a euphemism for certain minority groups preferred by Defendants.”
The group also included a quote from Assistant Education Secretary Nasser Paydar.
“When we look at U.S. students studying to become our future physicians, professors, scientists and other crucial professionals requiring graduate degrees, many demographic groups are underrepresented . . . . McNair grants fund projects at universities and colleges that help underrepresented students to access doctoral programs,” Paydar said.
YAF named two individual plaintiffs: Avery Durfee, a white female student who is in her junior year at the University of North Dakota, and Benjamin Rothove, a white male student attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Both students said they were informed by their universities that they are not eligible for the grant due to their race. However, YAF also admitted the students do not meet the low-income guidelines and that Rothove does not meet the first-generation guidelines.
“Denying a student the chance to compete for a scholarship based on their skin color is not only discriminatory but also demeaning and unconstitutional,” YAF President Scott Walker said in a statement.
The program and the guidelines for eligibility were created by an act of Congress in 1987. Every Department of Education since that time has made awards, including during the Trump administration.
Straight Arrow News reached out to the Department of Education for its response to the suit.
