(The Center Square) – A Wisconsin legal group has filed another lawsuit over 20 race-based scholarships at the University of Wisconsin-Madison following a Wisconsin Supreme Court win related to race-based grants in the state.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty is representing Young America’s Foundation and Citizens Defending Liberty in the case against both scholarships and grants that use race-based criteria and are administrated with taxpayer funds.
“The University of Wisconsin-Madison continues to administer scholarships and grants to students based on race, and it’s happening with our tax dollars,” WILL Deputy Counsel Rebecca Furdek said in a statement. “WILL is holding the university accountable so eligibility for scholarships doesn’t depend upon the color of a student’s skin.”
WILL argues that the scholarships do not pass a five-point test identified by the U.S. Supreme Court to determine if race-based funding is constitutional including whether race is overinclusive or arbitrary, it it’s based upon a stereotype and if the programs have a defined endpoint.
“Students should earn scholarships for merit and financial need, not simply due to their race,” UW-Madison student Jenna Lawrence said in a statement. “I am proud to stand alongside YAF and WILL and argue for our universities to treat all students equally.”
The lawsuit comes after the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in June that a Wisconsin college grant program that sent financial aid to students based on specific race, national origin and ancestry cannot legally operate.
WILL then sued the state of Wisconsin over a $250 million supplier grant program that has criteria based upon race.
