The Mossy Log Archive
A federal civil rights complaint filed April 13 alleges that four scholarships and one program at Lewis & Clark violate the Civil Rights Act by discriminating on the basis of race and national origin.
According to KOIN, the complaint was filed by the Equal Protection Project (EPP), an initiative by the conservative anti-affirmative action organization the Legal Insurrection Foundation. The EPP argues that three scholarships for the LC College of Arts & Sciences, one scholarship for the Graduate School, and one program for the Law School are in violation of federal civil rights law.
This is a part of a wider campaign by the EPP under the leadership of conservative activist and Cornell Law professor William Jacobson. The EPP’s December 2025 impact report claims the group has filed over 100 complaints to the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) since its founding in February 2023, with more than 275 institutions and 750 programs targeted for “race-based conduct” — resulting in 40 federal investigations and one major lawsuit.
The organization’s case against LC, available on the EPP’s website, requests the OCR take action against the college.
“The Office for Civil Rights has the power and obligation to investigate L&C’s role in creating, funding, promoting and administering these scholarships to discern whether L&C is engaging in such discrimination in its other activities — as well as the duty to impose whatever remedial relief is necessary to hold it accountable for this unlawful conduct,” the complaint read.
The complaint filed to the OCR targets three undergraduate scholarships available through the International Students and Scholars office: the Goldie Chan Lam Scholarship, which is awarded to students of Chinese ancestry who demonstrate financial need; the Esther and Edward Lee Scholarship, which is awarded to women from Asia who are majoring in math, science or computer science; and the Greg Caldwell Scholarship, which provides annual tuition support to international students who hold a non-immigrant visa. All three scholarships are the result of endowment funds established by donors. The web pages for these scholarships have been archived since the complaint was filed.
The EPP claims that the graduate school’s William Randolph Hearst Scholarship, a scholarship funded by the Hearst Foundations, is discriminatory. The scholarship is awarded to continuing graduate students in counseling psychology focusing on historically underrepresented populations.
The EPP also alleges that the law school’s Academic Enhancement Program (AEP) discriminates based on race. As stated on LC’s website, the AEP is designed to aid all students who need assistance with adjusting to the law school environment. Services include an optional Summer Institute for incoming students, biweekly skills-building sessions, workshop and review sessions as well as student advising support.
According to KOIN, the EPP’s complaint highlighted a section of the program’s description which states, “while all admitted students are invited to participate, space is limited and thus, priority is given to ethnic minorities, international students, non-traditional students, and those with socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.”
In an email statement to The Mossy Log, Lois Leveen, LC director of external affairs, addressed the complaint by the EPP. Leveen clarified that the complaint does not mean the college is under investigation by the OCR, noting that any third party can make a complaint regardless of whether it is truthful.
“Given the current rhetorical climate across the US, it’s impossible to know how many third-party accusations the OCR receives on any given day, and what fraction of those would merit investigation,” Leveen wrote.
Leveen noted that the article by KOIN, which was released the day after the complaint was filed, served to repeat unsubstantiated allegations by a third party.
“It’s disappointing that an established media outlet like KOIN is not more circumspect, careful, and accurate in its reporting,” she wrote.
On Dec. 10, 2025, NPR reported that the OCR had around 25,000 complaints and 7,000 active investigations. The OCR is obligated to respond to every complaint, though the chances of a given complaint advancing to an investigation are uncertain.
According to a Feb. 20 report by the Brookings Institution, since President Donald Trump took office, the OCR has exclusively pursued cases of antisemitism, reverse racial discrimination, and sex-based discrimination rooted in the provision or protection of transgender students’ rights. The report notes that the OCR has recently begun prioritizing cases filed by right-wing advocacy groups, a historical change from their previous focus of cases from families directly harmed by a violation.
Leveen stated that all of LC’s financial aid and services are non-discriminatory.
“Lewis & Clark is committed to complying with all civil rights law. We do not use race as a factor when awarding financial aid, and the college does not limit any of its services based on race,” Leveen wrote.
It remains unclear whether the OCR will open a formal investigation into the complaint.
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