Racists and DEI college bureaucrats, beware. An academic turned activist is showing conservatives how to successfully shut down anti-white discrimination schemes that have become commonplace at universities and colleges across America in recent years. The strategy works.
In an interview with The College Fix published on Monday, former University of Michigan economics professor Mark Perry shared the tactics he has been using to pressure higher-education legal teams into complying with U.S. civil-rights laws and policies. You can use them too, he says.
In January, Perry filed a federal complaint against a racist admissions program at University of Southern California “designed to support Black and African-American prospective transfer students.” Only those of African heritage were eligible for the program, the website explained.
Upon filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), Perry sent a “courtesy copy” to USC’s legal team. This considerate action appears to have helped motivate the university to fix the violation without even having to involve the Biden administration’s education bureaucracy.
“Upon learning of the complaint, the University reviewed the Program and took steps to ensure that the Program does not have any criteria for participation that is based on race, color, or national origin,” explained the resolution letter from USED’s Office for Civil Rights to Perry. Problem solved.
This is not Perry’s first time using the strategy. In fact, he has filed almost a thousand similar federal civil-rights complaints against over 850 colleges with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. The measures addressed sex-based discrimination under Title IX and race-based discrimination under Title VI.
“In some cases, like USC, I also share a courtesy copy of my complaint with the school’s Office of the General Counsel after filing the complaint with OCR,” explained Perry. And as was the case with USC, sometimes the colleges and universities fix the problem without even waiting for government intervention.
In the case of Perry’s complaint against USC, the university quickly changed the word on its website promoting the “Marshall Pathways Program,” the admissions initiative in question. The university made the changes “upon learning of the complaint,” according to the DOE’s response to Perry’s complaint.
“When new programs are being introduced, like USC’s discriminatory Black-only transfer student program, those programs should be submitted for a legal review with the university’s lawyers in the Office of the General Counsel to ensure legal compliance with federal civil rights laws,” Perry added.
Anyone can do this, too, according to Perry, who suggested that students and even faculty should raise concerns with their institutions’ legal departments or even file their own federal complaints. And if they are worried about retaliation from university officials, Perry even offered to help by filing the complaint on their behalf.
“As recipients of Federal financial assistance (e.g., Federal Pell Grants and Federal student loans, research grants), U.S. colleges and universities are legally required to enforce federal civil rights laws including Title VI and Title IX as a condition of receiving taxpayer-funded assistance,” explained Perry in a January, 2023, interview that celebrated his “heroic lone-wolf fight for civil rights.”
“Recipient institutions are required to regularly certify in writing to the Department of Education that they are actively enforcing federal civil rights laws and prohibiting any discrimination against students, staff, or faculty on the basis of sex, race, color, or national origin,” he added, noting that if he were fighting for the civil-rights of “favored” groups he would be celebrated by the establishment.
USC did not return to the College Fix’s request for comment.
Perry, who also consults with The College Fix on an unrelated project, is professor emeritus of economics at the University of Michigan’s Flint campus. He has written for the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE).
Victories against DEI and similar racist and sexist schemes are becoming increasingly common in higher education. As The Newman Report has documented, several leading state universities such as the University of Florida and Ivy League universities including MIT and Harvard have ended DEI mandates, programs, and more in recent months.
With the DEI dominoes falling at more and more colleges and companies across America, many conservatives are celebrating the apparent victories. But as with Marxist strategy everywhere, “two steps forward, one step back” appears to be the order of the day. This is not a full-scale retreat, merely a tactical step back.
In fact, even if all discrimination against disfavored groups ended tomorrow, “higher ed” in America would still be a dangerous dumpster fire. And if Americans do not succeed in reining in the monstrous indoctrination of the next generation from K-12 to university, it is hard to imagine a scenario in which liberty and civilization survive.
Originally published at FreedomProject Media.