The University of Minnesota (UMN) has dropped a requirement stating that only non-white people may apply to their summer research program after facing an intense backlash for their unashamedly racist stance.
According to a posting on the UMN’s Office of Undergraduate Studies’ website, the Multicultural Summer Research Opportunities Program (MSROP) is “an intensive 10-week summer program in which undergraduate students of color work full-time with a faculty mentor on a research project.”
Individuals chosen to take part in the program will be granted a stipend of $6,000, intended for personal and research expenditures. However, the eligibility criteria required applicants to identify as a person of color. Applicants are also asked to provide demographic information as part of the application process.
The Legal Insurrection Foundation’s Equal Protection Project (EPP) urged the university to revise its application procedure and make it available to all students regardless of their race.
“The U. Minnesota segregated summer program is inexcusable, and it’s shocking that a major university would so openly make educational opportunities open only to students of a certain skin color,” Bill Jacobson, president of the Equal Protection Project (EPP), told Fox News yesterday. “EqualProtect.org calls on the university immediately to open-up the summer program to students of all races, ethnicities, and skin colors.”
He continued:
We all thought racial segregation in education as government policy ended with Brown v. Bd. of Education, but unfortunately it has been reborn under the umbrella of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Whatever you call it, it’s immoral and illegal, and U. Minnesota needs to stop treating students differently based on skin color.
There is an increasing trend where people think it’s OK to discriminate on the basis of race as long as the discrimination is against whites or Asians or others, and we don’t accept that. There is no good form of racial discrimination. Depriving white students of educational opportunities does not promote racial or any other form of justice. [Their] conduct is inexcusable.
In a statement provided to The New York Post, a spokesperson said that the university “regularly revisits the selection criteria across thousands of different grants, scholarships and other financial awards provided to our students each year” and would be “evaluating the criteria for this student support program as part of this routine process and make any appropriate updates.”
Shortly after the statement was published, Legal Insurrection reported that the university had adjusted its eligibility requirements so that white people were no longer excluded. However, students are still required to provide their demographic background.
“Clearly, U. Minnesota has retreated from its open promotion of a racist program. We await formal confirmation that U. Minnesota has changed not only the website,” the legal blog noted, adding:
This change that doesn’t end the problem, because there are students who have been denied an educational opportunity by the university on the basis of skin color,” they continued. “Will U. Minnesota reopen the application process? Will it add opportunities for those students who lost out? There is more to be done beyond dropping the racist advertising and program requirements. We will continue to pursue this matter, but for now, we’ll take the victory for equality and equal protection.