The Equal Protection Project (EPP) has filed a civil rights complaint against the University of Southern California (USC) and Loyola Marymount University (LMU), alleging they violated federal law by sponsoring and facilitating a program that limits participation to students who identify as Hispanic. The complaint, obtained by The Post, asks the U.S. Department of Education to investigate whether the universities' involvement with the Youth Leadership Institute (YLI) constitutes discrimination based on national origin.
William Jacobson, president and founder of EPP, stated that the program "discriminates on its face and unequivocally on the basis of national origin." He argued that the universities become responsible by supporting, hosting events, and providing facilities for the YLI program.
According to the complaint, the universities' alleged violations stem from their support for YLI, which is described as a college-access and leadership-development program for Latino students. The EPP contends that by offering services such as hosting events, providing speakers, and on-campus housing specifically for students who identify as Hispanic, USC and LMU are violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This federal law prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs receiving federal funding. The complaint also alleges violations of Title II by restricting on-campus lodging to only Hispanic students participating in the program.
"If this had simply been an outside nonprofit unrelated to the universities, runs a program off the university campus, they wouldn’t be responsible," Jacobson said. "Because the universities have voluntarily taken on the burden of promoting the programs, supporting the programs, hosting the programs, providing lodging for participants in the programs they now fully adopted this as their program."
LMU, which identifies itself as a sponsor and host, recently held an in-person YLI event from June 24 to June 28. USC is scheduled to host an overnight component of the YLI program in July. YLI is operated by the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and has been acknowledged by both universities as a program that boosts Latino student admissions, with USC referring to it as an "educational partner."
"We think this is pretty egregious. It’s open discrimination, they don’t try to hide it," Jacobson told The Post, referring to the program's explicit restriction to students identifying as Hispanic. He added that this restriction applies to participation in on-campus events and the benefit of temporary housing.
The EPP is requesting a Department of Education investigation into the alleged Title VI violations. The Title II complaint would fall under the Department of Justice (DOJ) due to an inter-agency partnership that governs the handling of federal civil rights complaints.
This complaint follows other recent actions involving California institutions and civil rights allegations. In May, the DOJ sued UCLA for alleged "deliberate indifference to race and national origin discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students." Earlier in June, the DOJ initiated an investigation into four California public school districts for allegedly violating Title IX by teaching about sexual orientation and gender ideology without parental notification.