The George Floyd Memorial Scholarship, established by North Central University President Scott Hagan during the Minneapolis memorial service for Floyd on June 4, 2020, is facing legal scrutiny from the Legal Insurrection Foundation.
At the time of the scholarship’s fruition, Hagan made a very strong push and even encouraged other universities to do the same.
“Far beyond North Central University, I am now challenging every university president in the United States of America to establish your own George Floyd Memorial Scholarship Fund, so people across this nation can give to the college of their choice,” Hagan said. “It is time to invest like never before in a new generation of young Black Americans who are poised and ready to take leadership in our nation. So, university presidents, let’s step up together.”
The Legal Insurrection Foundation, a right-wing group founded by William A. Jacobson, filed the civil rights complaint on March 25 with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. They are alleging that the scholarship violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The foundation argues that the scholarship’s exclusive eligibility criteria, limited to students who are Black or African American, constitutes discrimination against non-Black students, including those of white, Hispanic, or Asian descent. They contend that this restriction violates the provisions of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibit discrimination based on race, color, and national origin in programs receiving federal financial assistance.
The scholarship, which is currently open for applications for the 2024-25 academic year, requires applicants to identify as Black or African American to be eligible. A press release indicates that the recipient will be selected by June.
Attorneys Ameer Benno and Jacobson, representing the Legal Insurrection Foundation, stated in the complaint that “we bring this civil rights complaint against North Central University for creating, supporting and promoting the George Floyd Memorial Scholarship – an undergraduate scholarship that engages in invidious discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin.
Furthermore, the complaint also goes on to state: “We bring this civil rights complaint against North Central University for creating, supporting and promoting the George Floyd Memorial Scholarship – an undergraduate scholarship that engages in invidious discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin. This includes, if necessary, imposing fines, initiating administrative proceedings to suspend or terminate federal financial assistance and referring the case to the Department of Justice for judicial proceedings to enforce the rights of the United States under federal law.”
However, esteemed attorney, social justice activist and Georgia NAACP President Gerald A. Griggs offers a different perspective on the matter.
In an exclusive interview with ADW, Griggs argues that the scholarship is on solid legal footing, citing Supreme Court precedents that uphold race-based decisions in higher education under certain conditions. He emphasizes that such decisions must be narrowly tailored to a compelling government interest and subject to strict scrutiny. Attorney Griggs contends that the scholarship’s aim to increase diversity and provide opportunities for marginalized communities aligns with these legal principles.
“It’s just a very high standard that the government is making based on race has to meet. And so given the continued effort to raise marginalized communities, to have equal opportunity for higher education, I think that this particular scholarship would definitely be a compelling government interest in that it’s increasing diversity and tuition narrowly tailored to achieve that goal,” Griggs said.
Furthermore, there have been several scholarships and initiatives established with the same mission to support Black and minority groups over the decades, and they haven’t been met with this type of pushback. Attorney Griggs says the name might be the reason behind why the George Floyd Memorial Scholarship is now battling this issue.
“I think that conservative groups have always been attacking anything associated with George Floyd, but fail to realize that they are groups primarily established to give scholarships. One that comes to mind is the United Negro College Fund, which has been around for decades. That gives money to African Americans and minorities for scholarships for higher education,” Griggs continues, “Now, granted, the mission of the United Negro College Fund primarily gives to private institutions. But I think the same argument can be made for institutional scholarships by public universities that it will withstand constitutional muster, as long as it’s narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling government interest. And it follows the rulings in the Bakke and Grutter cases.
According to Griggs, these two cases serve as precedence for the Legal Insurrection Foundation’s legal challenge against the George Floyd Memorial Scholarship.
“If you read the University of North Carolina case, a majority of the court reaffirms the rule that comes from the Grutter case, which the rule was initially written in the Bakke case. So it’s a regions of California versus Berkeley. Justice Lewis Powell’s opinion became the touchstone for evaluating the constitutionality of race based admissions, reasoning that diversity in a student body could be a compelling state interest, but that race could only be used as a plus in admissions and not the quota,” Griggs said.
Diving in further to the legal examination, Griggs says “In Grutter, the court adopted Powell’s viewpoint. Now, remember Powell’s viewpoint was not the complete majority yet. But in Grutter it became the majority. Saying limits to ensure race based admissions did not result in stereotyping or harm to a non minority applicant, and stating that race based programs should eventually come to an end,” Griggs said. “So in the Harvard and North Carolina case, which is the most recent case decided June 29th, 2023, reaffirmed Justice Powell’s ruling in Grutter and Bakke. So what happened in the Students for Fair Admissions (SFAA) case is that the University of North Carolina (UNC) and Harvard’s policies were not narrowly tailored to be allowed for the compelling interest of race. So they told me to go back to the drawing board.”
Attorney Griggs also addresses the potential implications following the actions of the Legal Insurrection Foundation.
“Conservative groups are going to sue. And they’re going to lose in the Supreme Court because the Supreme Court has three cases of precedent that says that race based considerations are constitutional as long as you meet those criteria laid out in Bakke and Grutter,” Griggs said.
The NAACP President and advocate also points to the media as the reason behind so much misinformation circulating about affirmative action. “I think that the media needs to do a better job of reading the actual decisions of the Supreme Court before putting the headlines up there that affirmative action is dead,” He said. “Affirmative action is not dead. It is on life support.”
As the first person in Georgia NAACP history to serve in the dual role of President of the State Conference and a branch of the Georgia NAACP. He emphasizes the need for accurate legal analysis and highlights the NAACP’s commitment to defending diversity initiatives in education.
“The NAACP has reaffirmed its position, that diversity is a compelling interest and a goal. And the NAACP, through our diversity, no matter what initiative, has already warned both public and private institutions that attempt to roll back race based considerations in admissions and scholarships, that we are the institution that overturned Plessy versus Ferguson and Brown versus the Board of Education. And we have more lawyers now.”
As the legal battle unfolds, the George Floyd Memorial Scholarship will remain a focal point in the ongoing debate over affirmative action, diversity, and equal opportunity in higher education. Further underscoring the ongoing struggle to achieve equity and inclusion in higher education across the board.
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Hunter Gilmore
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