Illinois ends DEI scholarship after DOJ threatens lawsuit

The Illinois Board of Higher Education suspended a scholarship program for racial minorities after the Trump administration threatened to sue, the Department of Justice said in a Friday statement.

Six universities also individually suspended the scholarship, including Northwestern University and the University of Chicago, the DOJ said. Prosecutors are committed to rooting out initiatives for so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, from American institutions and especially the education system, Attorney General Pamela Bondi said. This victory shows that the mere threat of legal action can be enough to end such practices, she said, describing DEI programs as harmfully disregarding merit and dividing Americans by race.

What legal precedent did the DOJ use? President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order dismantling federal DEI initiatives. However, DOJ prosecutors instead pointed to the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling that race-based selection violated the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. The equal protection clause requires that people in similar circumstances be treated the same under the law.

The Illinois General Assembly had planned to review the now-suspended state-run program during its next session.

Dig deeper: Read my report with Mary Jackson in WORLD Magazine about companies backpedaling on DEI.