University of Richmond faces federal civil rights complaint over alleged scholarship discrimination

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- The University of Richmond (UR) is facing a federal civil rights complaint accusing the private university of running scholarships that unlawfully discriminate based on race, national origin and sex.

The complaint, filed by the Equal Protection Project of the Legal Insurrection Foundation, alleges that at least three scholarships promoted or administered by the university violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

According to the filing, the scholarships include:

• VSCPA Scholarship – restricted to “a minority student with need” and a 3.0 GPA.
• Business Partnership Scholarship – preference given to “minority” students from the Richmond area, particularly Virginians.
• Law Women’s Centennial Scholarship – established to honor the law school’s first female graduate, which the filing claims signals a preference for women and discourages male applicants.

The Equal Protection Project argues these scholarships create unlawful barriers and has asked the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to investigate, citing Supreme Court precedent striking down affirmative action in college admissions.

"Regardless of URichmond’s reasons for offering, promoting, and administering such
discriminatory scholarships and programs, URichmond is violating Title VI by doing so. It does
not matter if the recipient of federal funding discriminates in order to advance a benign
“intention” or “motivation,”' the filing states.

The filing comes as federal officials have taken action in other Virginia higher education cases. Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) announced it found George Mason University violated Title VI in its diversity hiring and promotion practices.

The complaint also unfolds against a political backdrop. Some Democrats have argued that federal civil rights probes into Virginia’s colleges are politically motivated, accusing former President Donald Trump and Gov. Glenn Youngkin of targeting universities over diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

"URichmond’s race, color, national origin, or sex-based scholarships and programs are
presumptively invalid; URichmond’s offering, promotion and administration of these programs
violates federal civil rights statutes," the filing states.

The University of Richmond has not yet issued a public response to the complaint.