A lawsuit has been filed against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The Equal Protection Project, which is under the Legal Insurrection Foundation, is suing MIT for its program supporting women of color, CRWN (The Creative Regal Women of kNowledge), according to Boston.com. The nonprofit claims that the program is exclusionary, discriminatory, and violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 because “only undergraduate ‘women of color’ can participate in the program.”
“We bring this civil rights complaint against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for creating, supporting and promoting a program for undergraduate students — called the Creative Regal Women of Knowledge, or ‘The CRWN’ — that engages in invidious discrimination on the basis of race, color and sex,” foundation founder William A. Jacobson wrote in the complaint, per the outlet.
In a follow-up statement, he added. “It is sad and disheartening to see that institutions like MIT that receive federal funding are re-segregating the student body through exclusionary programs.”
Although CRWN was created to inspire undergraduate women of color at MIT, the program’s website notes that it remains open to all.
“While our program is designed to support and celebrate undergraduate women of Color, participation is open to all students regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, and national origin,” the website states.
Filing a lawsuit against MIT isn’t the only legal battle that the Legal Insurrection Foundation has opened in 2024. As previously reported by AFROTECH™, the conservative law and politics organization filed a federal complaint against Minneapolis, MN-based North Central University for its George Floyd Memorial Scholarship due to it requiring applicants to be Black or African American.
“Discrimination against white applicants is just as unlawful as discrimination against black or other non-white applicants,” said Jacobson and civil rights attorney Ameer Benno. “Regardless of NCU’s reasons for sponsoring and promoting the GFMS [scholarship], it is violating Title VI by doing so.”
