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U.S. DOJ Threatens to Sue Southern Illinois University for Reverse Discrimination |
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1. Background: Pattern and Practice
According to data published by the Chicago Sun Times, the following table shows the race and ethnicity of the award winners of all three of these SIU programs since their inception in 2000 and 2004:
*Source: Chicago Sun Times 11/11/05. Last known link http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-siu11.html
Daily Egyptian Editoral: Our Word Daily Egyptian 11/30/05 [SIU Carbondale, Ill.] -- "The University is attempting to weather the scrutiny of three of its graduate fellowships by the U.S. Department of Justice because of the assertion by some that they are unfair to white males. "Throughout this tempest, Chancellor Walter Wendler has strongly defended these programs. 'From our perspective, what we're doing is OK,' Wendler said. "Wendler even suggested that the University stepped up its vigilance in the wake of the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Gratz v. Bollinger, in which a rigid point system designed to favor minorities at the University of Michigan Law School was struck down. 'Since the Michigan case, we've been very careful,' he said. "But even as Wendler made these statements about the graduate fellowships, SIUC hiring procedures listed on the University Web site bore language identifying all tenure-track and select administrative professional appointments as 'targeted positions for women and minorities.' [Empahsis added] "What does 'targeted' mean? "We hope it doesn't mean that only women and certain minorities will be considered for these positions, or that the factors of gender and race may outweigh an individual's qualifications. This would be a perversion of affirmative action, which, as the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled, may be employed as a remedy for past racial discrimination. "But we don't know what 'targeted' means in this sense. Neither did Peter Ruger, former SIU General Counsel, who wrote in an e-mail in 2003 that 'targeted minority position' was not a term found in the law. "In July [2005], the Justice Department also investigated the hiring practices of the University, and no one has heard on whether the department will press another lawsuit as a result. The silence doesn't mean the University is in the clear. "When it comes to extending opportunity to all regardless of race or gender, how can we be sure what we are doing is OK if no one can provide an exact definition of what we're doing? "No one is served by such ambiguity, least of all the minorities and women hired under such murky practices. Such language merely adds fuel to the fires set by those who seek to undermine affirmative action by claiming discrimination in reverse. "It stigmatizes those hired under such rules by allowing people to scoff that they were hired only because of their gender or minority status. It allows their qualifications and contributions to be disregarded. "Affirmative action does not lock doors. It opens them. It does not raise walls; it knocks them down. Racial discrimination is not remedied by further racial discrimination. [Empahsis added.] "The University must immediately provide a definition of 'targeted positions for women and minorities' or delete the language from its hiring procedures. That is a cosmetic minimum. "From there, the University must renew its commitment to expanding the opportunity structure, and hope that will silence the critics who accuse it of doing the reverse." From The Daily Egyptian Editorial 11/30/05 Last Known Link: Professor Suspected of Lawsuit Involvement The SouthernIllinoisan.Com 11/29/05 CARBONDALE - Embattled history professor Jonathan Bean's criticisms of special privileges for minority students seems to have raised suspicion about his role regarding federal questions into alleged race discrimination practices at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. A United States Department of Justice lawsuit threatened against the university over three graduate fellowships has escalated tensions and paranoia in some areas of campus, particularly those serving African-American students. The justice department says it will sue SIUC if it does not end its Bridge to the Doctorate, Proactive Recruitment and Multicultural Professionals for Tomorrow and Graduate Dean's fellowship programs by Friday. Federal officials claim the programs intentionally discriminate against white males and non-preferred minorities, a violation of the 1964 Civil rights Act. No white males have received awards in any of the named fellowships since their inceptions. University officials are trying to meet with justice department representatives this week to discuss the matter. Bean - who was publicly chastised by many fellow faculty members earlier this year for allegedly distributing racist material as optional reading assignments to students - is one of the individuals suspected by some faculty supporting the fellowships to have contacted an anti-affirmative action group, the Center for Equal Opportunity, which typically precludes federal intervention on issues of discrimination. Bean wouldn't confirm or deny having contacted the center when asked by The Southern Illinoisan Monday. "I'll say no comment," he said. "All I'll say is I heard they (the center) heard from several faculty and students on campus." In the past, Bean has warned the campus some of SIUC's race-exclusive scholarships and programs could one day land it in trouble. Bean has written a book and several other documents pertaining to affirmative action practices in society. He also served on an affirmative action committee set up by Chancellor Walter Wendler in 2002 to address such issues. Bean noted the university has yet to implement the committee's recommendations from the committee about legal vulnerabilities, some of which addressed race-exclusive scholarships. "I'm for affirmative action in its original sense, seeking out all applicants, including minorities," Bean said. "The original sense of affirmative action was to broaden the applicant pool, not narrow it. "All I'll say is I'm not alone and surveys show large majorities of students and most faculty favor equal opportunity but not special privileges," he added. SIUC Black American Studies director Joseph Brown didn't mention Bean specifically but said the lawsuit threat is the latest episode in a long series of moves against affirmative action made locally. "I think that it's a distraction from the real issues; I think it goes counter to the 'Southern at 150' goals, and I think there are far too many people on the faculty who would see this issue as complicated when it is really very simple," Brown said. "I think this is another attempt to undermine affirmative action at the root." Brown said SIUC is not allowing unqualified students into fellowships just because they are a certain color. The university is on a mission to have its student population reflect the diversity found throughout the state. Right now, Brown added, SIUC has a long way to go. Brown suspects the justice department is attempting to establish a legal precedence against affirmative action and said unfortunately, what needs to be fought in Congress is being fought at SIUC. Center for Equal Opportunity Vice President and General Counsel Roger Clegg said universities often agree to end racially exclusive programs when the group brings it to their attention. The center first contacted SIUC last year, he added, and to date nothing has changed. Clegg, a former official in the Justice Department's civil rights division under the Reagan and senior Bush administrations, said diversity goals aren't reasons for universities to practice program enrollment that prefers one color while shunning another. "That makes it more difficult for SIU to argue it needs to engage in this type of program," Clegg said. "If Harvard and Yale can achieve it without running these racially exclusive programs, then SIU shouldn't have to run these types of programs." One of the fellowships, the Bridge to the Doctorate, was started in 2004 with funds from the federal National Science Foundation. The NSF synopsis of the program states the goal of the fellowship is "increasing the number of students who earn doctorates in (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), particularly those from populations underrepresented in STEM fields." The synopsis does not specifically mention special attention to minority students, and Clegg said universities are often scrutinized on a case-by-case basis as to the validity of running programs in a manner to achieve diversity. Clegg noted a white or Asian student can bring as much diversity to a group as a black or Hispanic student. SIUC had a total of 14,330 white students, 2,588 black students, 559 Hispanic students, and 339 Asians enrolled in fall of 2003. In 2001, there were roughly 1,664 combined scholarships, grants, fellowships and traineeships. -30- From The SouthernIllinoisan.Com story by Caleb Hale 11/29/05 Last Known Link: Justice Department investigated hiring practices Excerpted from the Daily Egyptian online story 11/30/05 by Zack Quaintance, Daily Egyptian [Carbondale, Illinois] -- "Before the Justice Department threatened to sue the University over three graduate fellowships, it investigated SIUC's hiring practices for signs of illegal preferences toward minorities, documents show. "In a July 19 letter obtained by the Daily Egyptian through a Freedom of Information Act request, the Justice Department told the University it would investigate fellowship programs and hiring practices for signs of discrimination. " 'Information obtained by the (Justice Department) indicates (SIUC) may be engaged in a pattern or practice of employment discrimination,' department attorneys wrote in the letter. The department also wrote that the University might be in violation of the law, 'by recruiting and hiring only minorities and women for selected faculty positions.' "After completing the investigation, the Justice Department sent a letter Nov. 4 citing three graduate fellowships as discriminatory against whites, males and non-preferred minorities. "Although the three awards were used as an example, the federal agency called for the University to cease all paid programs for undergraduate and graduate students that were restricted on the basis of race, gender or nationality. The government also requested 'make-whole relief' for the victims of discrimination resulting from the programs. "Currently, SIUC hiring procedures listed on the University Web site identify all tenure-track faculty and select administrative professional appointments as 'targeted positions for women and minorities.' [Emphasis added.] "The Center for Equal Opportunity, an [anti-racial-quota think tank], initially contacted the University with its concerns last year. When administrators did not respond, it filed a complaint with the Justice Department, said Roger Clegg, the group's legal counsel. The center complained about both about SIUC's fellowship programs and hiring practices. " 'It's a quota, an absolute quota,' Clegg said of SIUC labeling all positions minority targeted. 'The Supreme Court has made clear that's illegal.' "Affirmative action is an accepted remedy for past discrimination, he said, and in cases where segregation has historically occurred, it is legal to use racial preferences. " 'From what I know about Southern Illinois (University), it does not have a recent history of segregation,' Clegg said. Excerpted from The Daily Egyptian story by Zack Quaintance 11/30/05 Last Known Link: U.S. accuses SIU of anti-white bias Chicago Sun Times November 11, 2005 [Excerpts] -- "The University has engaged in a pattern or practice of intentional discrimination against whites, non-preferred minorities and males,'' says a Justice Department letter sent to the university last week and obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times. "The letter demands the university cease the fellowship programs, or the department's civil rights division will sue SIU by Nov. 18. "... the U.S. Justice Department charged that three SIU programs that aim to increase minority enrollment in graduate school exclude whites, other minorities and males, in violation of Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act. [Editor's Note: The Sun Times published a chart showing that not one single white male has ever received a fellowship from any of the three disputed programs at SIU. See "SIU Chart", above.] [The three fellowship programs targeted by DOJ are: "Bridge to the Doctorate", "Proactive Recruitment and Multicultural Professionals for Tomorrow (PROMPT)", and the "Graduate Dean's Fellowship".] "SIU Chancellor Wayne Wendler ... declined to say whether the university would fight in court or submit to a consent decree, as requested by the Justice Department. "I don't think that discriminates against whites, but that's part of what we need to talk to [Justice] about,'' Wendler said. The university has 'lots of other fellowship programs that are open to all people.' " 'I don't think there's any way that Southern Illinois can defend these programs legally, and I don't understand why they'd want to run a program that refuses to consider some individuals on the basis of their skin color,' said Roger Clegg of the conservative think tank [the Center for Equal Opportunity]. "Nearly 8 percent of SIU's 5,500 graduate students are black or Hispanic. [100% of the disputed fellowship funds, however, have been spent on non-white, non-male recipients.] "Pat McNeil, an assistant dean and administrator of the Underrepresented Fellowships Office, said she knows of no white students who have applied for the Bridge or Proactive Recruitment programs. "The Web site describing the Bridge program [one of the three race/gender exclusive fellowships] specifically says it is only open to members of underrepresented minority groups. Several white women who have 'overcome hardship' have been awarded the Graduate Dean's Fellowship, even though women outnumber men at the university. White men need not apply, however. 'I'll be upfront with you -- no white male will get this award,'' McNeil said. [Emphasis added.] Civil Rights Act, court ruling cited "The U.S. Justice Department alleges that [the] three graduate fellowships at Southern Illinois University violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. "Legal experts say a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action at the University of Michigan also applies. "In a 2003 decision, Grutter vs. Bollinger, the court said in a 5-4 ruling that race could be included as a factor in determining admissions, but not the sole factor. Every application needs to be considered on an individual basis, which would make excluding people solely based on race problematic, said Mark Cordes, a professor of law at Northern Illinois University. " 'Any special program that is limited to only members of a particular group or several racial groups is highly suspect', said Cordes." Excerpted from the Chicago Sun Times story by authors Dave Newbart, Dave McKinney and Carol Marin, Sun Times staff reporters. Last Known Link: Justice Dept. to Sue Southern Illinois U. Over Graduate Fellowships for Minorities and Women Chronicle of Higher Education Nov. 11, 2005 [Excerpts] -- "The U.S. Justice Department plans to sue Southern Illinois University over three fellowship programs reserved for minority-group members or women. "In a November 4 letter to the university, Bradley J. Schlozman, the acting assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, said his agency would file a lawsuit against the Southern Illinois University system's Board of Trustees and administration by November 18, based on its finding that the system has "engaged in a pattern or practice of intentional discrimination against whites, nonpreferred minorities, and males." "According to the letter, the lawsuit will allege that the eligibility criteria governing the three fellowship programs violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, religion, sex, or national origin. "All of the programs to be cited in the lawsuit are located at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. [Other federal agencies, including] "[t]he Education Department's Office for Civil Rights has investigated several colleges over allegations that they are violating Title VI, which prohibits discrimination in education, by offering scholarships or certain educational programs or services solely to minority students. "But the threatened lawsuit against Southern Illinois appears to represent the first time that the Justice Department has stepped into the fray by formally alleging that paid fellowship programs for minority-group members or women violate the chief federal law against employment discrimination. "... [T]he Justice Department's inquiry was undertaken in response to a complaint from the Center for Equal Opportunity, an advocacy group that opposes racial preferences and is working with other organizations to try to identify and eliminate such programs on college campuses. Roger B. Clegg, the center's vice president and general counsel, said on Thursday that his group had contacted the university on its own, but decided to request the Justice Department's involvement in the dispute after deciding that 'the school's response was too slow and erratic.' " 'What Southern Illinois is doing is clearly illegal,' Mr. Clegg argued. 'It is an important lawsuit because for some reason so many colleges and universities think this is permissible, when it is not.' "The Justice Department's letter alleges that two of the three programs being challenged in the lawsuit discriminate 'against whites and nonpreferred minorities on the basis of race and national origin.' The two programs are the university's Proactive Recruitment of Multicultural Professionals for Tomorrow fellowship program, which is known as Prompt, and its Bridge to the Doctorate fellowship program, both of which are for graduate students. "The letter said that the agency's investigation determined that the Prompt program is open only to black, Hispanic, Asian American, and American Indian students, and that none of the 78 fellowship recipients since 2000 have been white. The two-year-old Bridge Program is open only to black, Hispanic, American Indian, Native Alaskan, and Pacific Islander students, and none of its 27 fellowship recipients have been white, the letter said. "The Justice Department's letter said it would allege that the eligibility criteria of a third program, the Graduate Dean's Fellowship Program, discriminates on the basis of race, national origin, and gender. The program is open only to women and 'traditionally underrepresented students who have overcome social, cultural or economic conditions that have adversely affected their educational progress,' and none of its 27 fellowship recipients since 2000 have been white men, the letter said. "The Justice Department's letter urges the board and campus officials to enter into a consent decree under which they would agree to open the programs up to all students and 'provide make-whole relief to those persons who have been and/or continue to be the victims of the discriminatory policies and practices.' Excerpted from the Chronicle of Education article written by Chronicle reporter Peter Schmidt Last known link (expires Jan.
2006): Justice Dept. May Sue Over Scholarships SIU's Daily Sentinel Nov. 11, 2005 CARBONDALE, Ill. (via Associated Press) [Excerpts] -- "Federal prosecutors are threatening to sue Southern Illinois University over three small graduate school scholarship programs aimed at women and minorities, saying they were discriminatory. "SIU 'has engaged in a pattern or practice of intentional discrimination against whites, non-preferred minorities and males,' the Justice Department said in a letter. A copy of the letter was obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times. "The graduate scholarships, or fellowships, violate Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, the department said. The letter demands SIU discontinue the fellowship programs or its civil rights division will sue the university by Nov. 18. "Chancellor Walter Wendler denied the fellowships are discriminatory and said he supports the programs. "[Twof of] [t]he programs, dubbed the Proactive Recruitment and Multicultural Professionals for Tomorrow fellowships and the Bridge to the Doctorate fellowships are aimed at increasing enrollment of minorities in graduate programs where they are underrepresented. The Proactive program, begun in 2000, has aided 78 students, while the Bridge program, begun last year, has aided 24 students. [Neither program has provided aid to white males. -- Editor.] "A third program, the Graduate Dean's fellowships, are for women and minorities who have overcome adverse social, cultural or economic conditions. It was started in 2000 and has aided 27 students. [No white male has ever been awarded this fellowship. -- Editor.] " 'I don't think that discriminates against whites, but that's what we need to talk to (federal officials) about,' said Wendler, adding that the school has 'lots of other fellowship programs open to everyone.' "Just under 8 percent of SIU's 5,500 graduate students are black or Hispanic. [Yet 100% of these fellowships have been awarded to non-white, non-male recipients. -- Editor.] [In the June 2003 Supreme Court rulings regarding the University of Michigan's race sensitive admissions policies] "[t]he court said you can't categorize people purely by race," said Mark Cordes, a law professor at Northern Illinois University. "The same thing would apply to a fellowship. At that point, you aren't treating people as individuals." Excerpted from the AP story which appeared in the Daily Sentinel on Nov. 11, 2005. Last known link: Civil Rights Focus Shift Roils Staff At Justice Veterans Exit Division as Traditional Cases Decline Washington Post Nov. 13, 2005 [Excerpts] -- "The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, which has enforced the nation's anti-discrimination laws for nearly half a century, is in the midst of an upheaval that has driven away dozens of veteran [liberal] lawyers and has damaged morale for many of those [liberals] who remain, according to former and current career employees. "Nearly 20 percent of the division's lawyers left in fiscal 2005, in part because of a buyout program that some lawyers believe was aimed at pushing out those who did not share the [Bush] administration's conservative views on civil rights laws. At the same time, prosecutions for the kinds of racial and gender discrimination crimes traditionally handled by the division have declined 40 percent over the past five years, according to department statistics. [Editor's Note: Those 'traditional racial discrimination' cases were mostly based upon the doctrine of 'statistical racism', i.e., failure of employers to hire blacks and other minorities in proportion to their number in the general population.] "Most everyone in the Civil Rights Division realized that with the change of administration [from Clinton to Bush], there would be some cutting back of some cases," said Richard Ugelow, who left the division in 2004 and now teaches law at American University. "But I don't think people anticipated that it would go this far, that enforcement [statistical racism cases] would be cut back to the point that people felt like they were spinning their wheels." "Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, the first Hispanic to hold the job, named civil rights enforcement as one of his priorities after taking office earlier this year and supports reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act. "Although relations between the career and political ranks have been strained throughout the Justice Department over the past five years, the level of conflict has been particularly high in civil rights, according to current and former staffers [who support "race sensitive" policies such as racial quotas and racial preferences which discriminate against whites and especially against white males]. "Critics point to several key statistics in arguing that Gonzales and the previous attorney general, John D. Ashcroft, have charted a dramatically different course for civil rights enforcement than previous administrations of both parties. "The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which includes a number of former Justice lawyers, noted in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that the division has filed only a handful of cases in recent years dealing with employment discrimination or discrimination based on the statistical impact on women or minority groups. [Editor's Note: "Statistical impact on women or minority groups" is liberal-speak for racial quotas. Under the "statistical impact" doctrine, employers need not be proven to have practiced 'intentional discrimination', but only need to be proven that their policies -- even when provably based upon merit and 'best' qualifications' -- resulted in a disproportionate number of under-qualifed, preferred minorites being eliminated for consideration for job opportunities.] "The Bush administration has filed only three lawsuits -- all of them this year -- under the section of the Voting Rights Act that prohibits discrimination against minority voters, and none of them involves discrimination against blacks. The initial case was the Justice Department's first reverse-discrimination lawsuit, accusing a majority-black county in Mississippi of discriminating against white voters. "At the same time, [former Attorney General John] Ashcroft implemented procedures throughout Justice that limited the input of career lawyers in employment decisions, resulting in the hiring of many young conservatives in civil rights and elsewhere in the department, former and current lawyers have said. [Editor's Note: During the previous two Clinton administrations, the DOJ did not tend to hire conservative and/or Republican professional lawyers; thus the agency was stacked with liberal leaning lawyers who supported racial preferences and quotas when Bush was elected in 2000.] "To Roger Clegg, the situation is also perfectly understandable. A former civil rights deputy in the Reagan administration who is now general counsel at the Center for Equal Opportunity, Clegg said the civil rights area tends to attract activist liberal lawyers who are philosophically opposed to a more conservative approach. " 'If the career people are not reflecting the policy priorities of the political appointees, then there's a problem,' Clegg said. 'Elections have consequences in a democracy.' "Ralph F. Boyd Jr., the civil rights chief from 2001 to 2003, agreed: "It's not a prosecutor's job to bring lots of cases; it's a prosecutor's job to bring the right cases. If it means fewer cases overall, then that's what you do." Excerpted from the Washington Post article "Civil Rights Shift Roils Staff at Justice" Nov. 13, 2005 page A1 by Post writer Dan Eggen. Last known link: END 1. Background: Pattern and Practice of Reverse Discrimination |
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