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EXCLUSIVE: A nonprofit legal organization filed a civil rights complaint against Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, Tuesday, after it announced plans to offer five scholarships exclusively to “Palestinian” students, allegedly discriminating against the rest of the student body.
The Equal Protection Project of the Legal Insurrection Foundation, based in Rhode Island, is an organization that fights for equal protection under the law and nondiscrimination by the government and against racial discrimination of any form.
According to a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education against Northwestern, the school said it was planning to discriminate based on ethnicity and national origin, violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The complaint specifically targets three members of the school’s top administration — President Michael Schill, Provost Kathleen Hagerty and Vice President for Student Affairs Susan Davis — after they issued a formal encampment agreement April 29, 2024, with a group of students and faculty who staged an unauthorized five-day anti-Israel protest and encampment on Deering Meadow at Northwestern.
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The Northwestern University campus in Evanston, Ill. (Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Under the agreement, Northwestern said it plans to cover the full cost of attendance for five Palestinian students who attend the school for the duration of their undergraduate careers.
The agreement also provides for immediate temporary space for [Middle East and North Africa] MENA/Muslim students and a house for MENA/Muslim students that is conducive to community building as soon as practically possible, or sometime after 2026.
“In violation of Title VI, the stated commitment of the University to provide five scholarships exclusively to ‘Palestinian’ students illegally excludes and discriminates against non-Palestinian students based on their ethnicity, national origin, and shared ancestry,” the complaint states.
“Additionally, the reservation of space and housing for ‘MENA/Muslim’ students appears to be segregationist in nature, excluding at least in part students on the basis of ethnicity, national origin, and shared ancestry.”
Students and residents camp outside Northwestern University during an anti-Israel protest, expressing solidarity with Palestinians with banners in Evanston, Ill., April 27, 2024. (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)
William A. Jacobson, president of the Legal Insurrection Foundation and founder of the Equal Protection Project, filed the complaint.
“Northwestern capitulated to the demands of protesters who encamped without authorization. However, Northwestern had no authority to agree to discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, national origin and shared ancestry in order to get the encampment removed,” Jacobson said. “Whether in scholarship or housing, Northwestern must treat all students equally. Political expediency is no legal excuse.”
Northwestern University did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the civil rights complaint.
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Students set up tents outside Northwestern University as part of an ongoing protest in support of Palestinian rights, demonstrating their commitment to the cause in Evanston, Ill., April 25, 2024. (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Northwestern receives federal funds, making it subject to Title VI.
Title VI prohibits intentional discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin in any program or activity – or all university operations – that receives federal financial assistance.
Jacobson noted the Office for Civil Rights has jurisdiction over the complaint.
“The Office for Civil Rights has the power and obligation to investigate Northwestern’s role in participating in, sponsoring, supporting and promoting the Encampment Agreement, and to discern whether Northwestern is engaging in such discrimination in its other activities,” the complaint states, adding it also has the power to impose remedial relief to hold the university accountable for its conduct.
Notably, the relief could be in the form of fines, the initiation of administrative proceedings and suspending or terminating federal financial assistance.
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“Northwestern should immediately rescind those parts of the agreement as [they] require Northwestern to discriminate,” Jacobson said. “As a recipient of federal funding, Northwestern does not have the option of discriminating just to make other problems go away.
“We call on Northwestern to use the funding it committed to discrimination by opening up those scholarships and housing to all students, without regard to ethnicity, national origin or shared ancestry,” he added.
READ THE FULL COMPLAINT: MOBILE USERS CLICK HERE
Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.
Story tips and can be sent to Greg.Wehner@Fox.com and on Twitter @GregWehner.
