Santa Clara University violated federal law by only accepting Black applicants: lawsuit

(KRON) -- The Equal Protection Project (EPP) filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education against Santa Clara University on Wednesday. The complaint claims that SCU's Black Corporate Board Readiness Program violates federal law by only accepting Black applicants.

The EPP was formed in 2023 to fight against discrimination in any form, primarily focusing on higher education. Santa Clara University is the project’s current target, saying the university's BCBR program discriminated against anyone who isn’t Black.

EPP founder William Jacobson says the university’s Black Corporate Board Readiness program, or BCBR, is the reason. “[BCBR] is limited to Black executives. You can only apply to it if you are Black. That violates the law. You cannot have a program that is open to only one race, or excludes races," Jacobson said.

Jacobson says a university that receives federal funding has to comply with federal law, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin.

BCBR was formed in 2020, the same year that George Floyd was killed and Black Lives Matter protests ignited nationwide. Jacobson says regardless of the purpose of discrimination, it is "unlawful."

“They view the remedy for racism as more racism, and if there is discrimination, if there is an imbalance in corporate boards, it is perfectly ok to address that, but you can’t do it by discriminating in addition," Jacobson said.

The EPP says the US Supreme Court 2023 decision in Students For Fair Admission affirms the wording of the discrimination complaint against Santa Clara University. In it, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his majority opinion that eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.

“My hope would be that Santa Clara University would change this program and would open it up to everybody, but regardless of what they voluntarily do, we want the Department of Education to open a formal investigation, which is the next step in this process," Jacobson said.

KRON4 reached out to Santa Clara University for comment, and a spokesperson got back to us saying the university has not received notice of the complaint and has no comment at this time.