The University of Rhode Island has removed the applications for 31 scholarships, primarily intended for women and students of color, while they remain under investigation by the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
“These scholarships have been removed from the portal while the university undertakes a review to confirm compliance with anti-discrimination laws,” Dawn Bergantino, assistant director of communications for URI, said in a statement to The Good Five Cent Cigar.
The scholarships under investigation were brought to the attention of the OCR after the Equal Protection Project, a project by non-profit advocacy organization Legal Insurrection Foundation, filed a civil rights complaint, according to the investigation notice.
“Our goal also in all of our cases is not to have the scholarships removed, not to deprive students of the opportunity, but to open up the opportunity to all students without regard to race, color, national origin or sex,” William Jacobson, founder of LIF, said.
The EPP alleges that 28 scholarships offered by URI are discriminatory on the basis of race, color or national origins, according to the investigation notice. Four scholarships are under investigation for alleged discrimination on the basis of sex. Three are under investigation for discrimination of alleged discrimination on the grounds of both race and sex.
All of the scholarships under investigation for alleged racial discrimination are given to exclusively minority students or give preference to minority students, according to the information pages for each scholarship.
Three of the six scholarships under investigation for alleged discrimination on the basis of sex give preference or are given exclusively to male students, according to the scholarship information pages. The other three scholarships are given exclusively or preferably to women.
Scholarships with revoked applications are intended for both undergraduate and graduate students, according to the scholarships’ information pages.
“Our goal here is for [the university] to end the discrimination,” Jacobson said. “They have not indicated they’re doing that yet.”
If the scholarships return after the investigation, Jacobson said they need to do so with significant changes.
“We also think the school needs to apologize to the community for this,” Jacobson said. “These were a large number of scholarships of which a large number of students were deprived of the opportunity to apply based on race or sex. I think the school needs to come up with some sort of remedial plan for students.”
As of the fall 2024 semester, 29.88% of URI students identify as a race other than white, according to URI’s self-released demographic report. The same semester reported 58.23% of the student population as women.
The university has not answered questions from The Cigar regarding how much money is being withheld by the removal of the scholarships from the portal, or what will be done with money already endowed by donors.
“Funds donated to the University for the purpose of student scholarships will remain in the endowment and continue to earn interest,” Bergantino said in a statement to The Cigar. “Our intent is that these funds will continue to support URI students following the review process.”
