MSU hit with civil rights complaint for discriminating against white males
A government watchdog organization on Friday filed a civil rights complaint against Missouri State University, alleging that the school’s business boot camp program illegally discriminated against white males.
The Equal Protection Project (EPP) said it was bringing the civil rights complaint against MSU for “engaging in racial- and gender-based discrimination through its sponsorship, promotion, and hosting of a small business training ‘boot camp’ that limited participation to individuals who identify as ‘BIOPOC’ … or are female. White males, and white males alone, were excluded from eligibility.”
“BIPOC” is an acronym for “Black, Indigenous and Persons of Color.” In its complaint to the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education, the EPP accused MSU’s program of violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
“The OCR should investigate this program and the circumstances under which such a blatantly discriminatory program was approved, take all appropriate action to end such discriminatory practices, and impose remedial relief,” EPP said.
MSU began accepting applications for the Spring 2023 Early-Stage Business Boot Camp program in late November.
The university said the program was for “aspiring or current BIPOC and/or women small business owners who have recently started or are in the idea phase” and live in Southern Missouri.
The program ran for eight sessions (once a week for eight weeks) and concluded in mid-April. Participants were given a $3,000 stipend for transportation, childcare, or other business expenses.
Per EPP, the program was funded by a $30,000 grant from U.S. Bank Foundation for the university’s foundation for the “efactory,” a technology-focused business incubator and entrepreneurial development center. Funding also came from the Missouri Scholarship and Loan Foundation.
After EPP filed a complaint to the Missouri Attorney General in April, MSU said the program would be offered to everyone “irrespective of their race and/or sex.”
MSU said at the time that the program was “designed to assist new and aspiring small business owners in establishing and growing their business.”
“The Spring 2023 program was funded by the U.S. Bank Foundation and, on a one-time basis, focused on minority and/or woman-owned businesses,” MSU said. “On an ongoing basis, the efactory will continue to offer the Early-Stage Business Boot Camp Program at no cost to the participants, and irrespective of their race and/or sex.”
EPP founder William A. Jacobson said the change was a “good first step” but argued that MSU “needs to publicly and officially acknowledge its wrongdoing, and make clear what steps it will take to make amends to the people wrongly excluded based on race and sex.”
“Missouri State also needs to state whether there are any other segregated or discriminatory programs, what investigation it has done to identify such programs, and what specific steps it will take to prevent such misconduct,” Jacobson said in a statement.
“It’s not enough, when caught, to say ‘oops, sorry.’ Sunlight needs to shine on the nature of DEI activities at Missouri State, and how such a blatantly discriminatory program was allowed to happen in the first place.”