Sigh… A Conservative Group is Coming For a George Floyd Memorial Scholarship

After the Supreme Court decimated affirmative action in higher education last year — legal scholars warned that conservatives would continue to chip away at programs aimed at helping Black and other minority groups. Now, a conservative legal group is coming for the George Floyd Memorial Scholarship.

The Legal Insurrection Foundation filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education arguing that the scholarship for Black students at North Central University in Minneapolis, Minn., violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The George Floyd Memorial Scholarship was established in 2020 to “invest in a new generation of young Black Americans, poised and ready to be leaders in our community and our nation.” The scholarship, which pays homage to Floyd, who was murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, provides full tuition for four years to one student every year, according to their website.

The Supreme Court’s decision last year did not mention race conscious scholarships. However, in the aftermath of the ruling, several colleges disbanded scholarships that considered race.

In the complaint, The Legal Insurrection Foundation argues that North Central University is engaging in “invidious discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin,” and discriminating against non-Black applicants.

The group requested that the DOE’s Office for Civil Rights investigate and “if necessary…suspend or terminate federal financial assistance and terminate federal financial assistance,” and refer the case to the Department of justice.

So far, the Department of Education has not publicly responded to the request.

However, just because the scholarship is still standing, doesn’t mean these types of cases can be ignored.

Last year, a circuit court blocked the Fearless Fund, a Black women-owned venture capitalist firm that provides grants to minority women-owned businesses from continuing their program. The fund was under attack by Edward Blum’s non-profit American Alliance for Equal Rights. Blum was also a significant driver of the Supreme Court’s decision to gut affirmative action in higher education. And, other diversity initiatives across the country continue to be under siege.