MIT hit with civil rights complaint over program for women of color

The Equal Protection Project (EPP) filed a civils rights complaint against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for a program designated to women of color.  

In the complaint to the Department of Education, EPP takes issue with the school’s Creative Regal Women of kNowledge” (CRWN) program that is marketed to “Black, Indigenous, Hispanic/Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islanders, and other minoritized ethnicities.” It also includes transgender and nonbinary women.

“The CRWN eligibility requirements are openly racially and sexually discriminatory. Regardless of the purpose of the discrimination, it is wrong and unlawful,” said William Jacobson, founder of the EPP.

“It does society no good to inject more racism and sexism into the educational system through discriminatory university programs,” he added.

The complaint says the program is a violation of Title VI and Title IX. The initiative aims to give more financial assistance and networking opportunities to women of color.

Despite the goal the website stated, it does have a clause in bold on its page saying that while “our program is designed to support and celebrate undergraduate women of Color, participation is open to all students regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, and national origin.” 

MIT said it does not comment on pending litigation.  

“Unfortunately, many colleges and universities have bought into the ‘anti-racist’ activism claim that the remedy for past discrimination is current discrimination. Such ‘reverse-racism’ and ‘reverse-sexism’ is just racism and sexism, and it is not the answer,” Jacobson said.