Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday opened an investigation into the City University of New York system over allegations that one of its student success programs violates civil rights law.
- The Black Male Initiative program, founded by CUNY in 2005, aims to boost educational outcomes for "students from groups that are severely underrepresented in higher education," according to the system. The program focuses on Black men and men from Caribbean and Latino backgrounds but is open to all.
- DOJ said it had received reports that CUNY was providing "educational benefits to minorities, particularly black males, on the basis of race" through BMI. The probe is one of over a dozen civil rights investigations into higher ed institutions that the federal agency has publicly announced over the last week.
Dive Insight:
BMI, a systemwide program across CUNY's 26 campuses, primarily focuses on boosting four metrics for underrepresented students: enrollment, retention, overall grade point average, and graduation rate.
DOJ this week alleged that BMI could violate Title VI, which bans federally funded institutions from discriminating based on race, color or national origin.
"The program, as the name suggests, appears to favor select non-white minorities — primarily black males — over applicants of other races," DOJ said in a press release.
CUNY's website and messaging describe the initiative differently.
"All programs and activities of the CUNY Black Male Initiative Program are open to all academically eligible students, faculty and staff, without regard to race, gender, national origin or other characteristic," according to the program's website.
In addition to offering roughly 30 programs for students — including research symposiums and peer mentoring — those who participate in BMI and graduate from CUNY have access to the initiative's alumni network.
The initiative also offers programming geared toward students' social and personal development, including workshops on sexual assault prevention, anti-hazing and civility.
Some 8,000 students a year participate in BMI, according to the New York Amsterdam News.
The DOJ this month opened 15 civil rights probes into medical school admissions and one into Arizona State University’s diversity, equity and inclusion work. Like CUNY, the agency said the institutions under investigation face allegations of Title VI violations.
