Officials at the University of Michigan Alumni Association recently decided to end a race-based scholarship that pledged to increase “diversity” on campus.
The initiative, called the “LEAD Scholars programs,” offered scholarships to “admitted students who exemplify the program’s four pillars: leadership, excellence, achievement, and diversity,” according to an archived version of the program’s web page.
In 2017, the Michigan Alumni Association stated it committed $10 million to increase scholarships available to “African-American, Latino, and Native American students who have been accepted to the university,” reported The Detroit Free Press.
The current web page explains that the Michigan Alumni Association “made the decision to discontinue the LEAD Scholars program.” The announcement was made by Ashleigh Hardy, director of student engagement at the Michigan Alumni Association on March 20, according to The Michigan Daily.
”After careful review and consideration, and in order to apply with all applicable laws, the Alumni Association has made the decision to discontinue the LEAD scholars program, effective immediately,” Hardy wrote, according to The Detroit Free Press. “As a result, all LEAD scholars programs are being discontinued.”
Michigan’s move comes in the wake of the Department of Education’s Feb. 14 “Dear Colleague” letter, which notified universities that they may have federal funding revoked if they continue to discriminate on the basis of race.
In the notice, the department asserted that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives have often been used to smuggle “racial stereotypes and explicit race-consciousness into everyday training, programming, and discipline.”
“If an educational institution treats a person of one race differently than it treats another person because of that person’s race, the educational institution violates the law,” the department notice continued, before stating that “[f]ederal law thus prohibits covered entities from using race” in decisions about scholarships and financial aid.
According to MLive, the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation on March 14 into Michigan and other schools for “allegedly engaging in race-exclusionary practices in their graduate programs.”
“The University of Michigan is dedicated to maintaining a safe and non-discriminatory environment for all members of the university community,” Michigan Director of Public Affairs Kay Jarvis said, as reported by MLive.
Campus Reform has contacted the University of Michigan for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
Patrick McDonald is a student at Hillsdale College pursuing a major in History and a minor in Politics. He competes full-time on the Hillsdale College Mock Trial team and the Hillsdale College Debate team. In high school, Patrick competed in the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association (NCFCA) in 13 different speech and debate events. He won numerous awards, including four national championships. Patrick also competed…
