The complaint from the Equal Protection Project targets 32 scholarships at FSU funded by donors, most of whom prefer the award go to Black students. The group alleges the scholarships violate the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, according to a Thursday press release.
Another complaint from EPP — founded by Cornell Law Professor William Jacobson, who has gained prominence by attacking diversity programs in education — prompted Trump’s DOE Office for Civil Rights to launch an investigation against the University of Miami and four other higher education institutions.
A spokesperson for FSU didn’t respond to Florida Phoenix’s requests for comment.
DOE announced the investigation into the University of Miami’s scholarships for academically eligible students lacking permanent legal status in a press release Wednesday. FSU is a public university while UM is private.
“Neither the Trump Administration’s America first policies nor the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s prohibition on national origin discrimination permit universities to deny our fellow citizens the opportunity to compete for scholarships because they were born in the United States,” said Craig Trainor, acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, in a statement. “As we mark President Trump’s historic six months back in the White House, we are expanding our enforcement efforts to protect American students and lawful residents from invidious national origin discrimination of the kind alleged here.”
The Trump administration is also investigating the University of Louisville, the University of Nebraska Omaha, the University of Michigan, and Western Michigan University for scholarships awarded to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and students living in those states without permanent legal status.
On its website’s “About” page, the Equal Protection Project states it is a part of the Legal Insurrection Foundation, which says it fights because “bureaucratic apparatchiks in schools and universities employ reverse racism in the name of furthering ‘diversity, equity and inclusion.'”
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Contact Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.
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This article appears in Jul 23-29, 2025.