Northwestern University hit with civil rights complaint over Palestinian scholarship agreement

A nonprofit organization accused Northwestern University of discrimination on Wednesday, after school officials agreed to offer five scholarships exclusively to Palestinian students each year, in a compromise with protesters.

The university announced an agreement between anti-Israel protesters and the university on Monday, which included the full-ride scholarships, and a vow to fund two Palestinian faculty each year. It also agreed to create a temporary space for Middle Eastern and Muslim students, and renovate a house for the students after it completes its current renovation project.

The Equal Protection Project of the Legal Insurrection Foundation claimed in a civil rights complaint that this agreement violated the 1964 Civil Rights Act by discriminating on the basis of ethnicity and national origin, because it excluded all other students.

"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 said. "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."

The complaint was filed with the Department of Education, and specifically highlights the university's President Michael Schill, Provost Kathleen Hagerty, and Vice President for Student Affairs Susan Davis.

“Northwestern is legally obligated to treat all its students and prospective students equally," William Jacobson, the project's founder, said in a statement shared with Just the News. "Preferring one ethnicity or national origin group over others, even if done for political convenience, still violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Northwestern had no right to bargain away student civil rights just to convince the occupiers of the unauthorized encampment to leave.”

Jacobson urged the university to remove the discriminatory sections of the agreement, according to Fox News. Northwestern is a private university, but receives federal funding, which requires it to comply with the Civil Rights Act.

"As a recipient of federal funding, Northwestern does not have the option of discriminating just to make other problems go away," Jacobson said. "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."

America First Legal also warned the university in a letter on Thursday, that the agreement violates multiple federal laws.