Conservative Group Sues Over Minority Scholarship Program
Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty argues the grant is racially exclusionary to white students and some Asian students.
Milwaukee Area Technical College. Photo by Carl Baehr.
A state program that distributes grants to minority college students is under fire from a conservative law firm. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, or WILL, is alleging the Higher Educational Aids Board’s Minority Undergraduate Retention Grant Program is unconstitutional because it excludes white students and minority groups not specified in statute.
According to the lawsuit filed in Jefferson County Circuit Court, WILL is seeking that the grant program be declared unconstitutional because it uses taxpayer funds “to discriminate against college students based on race, national origin, and alienage.”
The program operates under a state statute outlining the specific racial criteria, which was passed as part of the 1985-1987 state budget and provides grants to students attending private colleges in Wisconsin and state technical colleges.
WILL attorney Dan Lennington told WPR the law firm is asking the judge to declare the grant program unconstitutional because “the overarching principle is that the government can’t discriminate against people based on race. Full stop.”
“This particular program is even more flawed, though, because as you may know, there are over 30 countries in Asia,” said Lennington. “This scholarship only allows people from three countries.”
Lennington said if the goal is to help students, state aid should be appropriated based on financial need instead.
The University of Wisconsin System has a similar program for its students called the Ben R. Lawton Minority Undergraduate Retention Grant, which lists the same eligibility criteria. Lennington said WILL is looking at that program as well.
In a video posted to WILL’s website, Madison couple Richard Freihoefer and KonKanok Rabiebna discuss how their son was unable to get state aid through the Higher Educational Aids Board’s minority grant program. Freihoefer said the program “should be equal,” especially if it’s a government program.
“If it’s a private entity, do what you want with your money,” said Freihoefer. “But it’s our tax money that’s going for this. You’re basically pitting one group against another.”
A grant administrator with the Higher Educational Aids Board didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
Listen to the WPR report here.
State Minority Scholarship Program Faces Legal Challenge For Race Discrimination was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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WILL and Esenberg showing us their white supremacist street cred.
Has WILL heard about real estate red lining by the federal government? Using our tax dollars to favor whites over minorities. And the GI Bill for white soldiers to go to college, etc., after WWII but not black soldiers who also risked their lives? Has WILL looked at the data about unjust racial policing? Who went to jail with a packet of pot in the 90’s: More black males than white males for the same offense. Whose tax dollars fund the police? Shall I go on? How many white boys got hung between 1865 and 2000? How many Black young men? And how many white men went to jail for this terrorism? Where did the justice system tax dollar go? And finally has WILL heard about the South African process of healing the trauma of apartheid? Has WILL then heard about the call for restitution in this country? That’s where we need to go as a healing, caring nation with a consciousness raised by our purported faith in the teachings of Jesus.