The University of Missouri system is removing racial criteria from endowed scholarships, saying they run afoul of the Supreme Court’s affirmative action ban.
Donors feel disrespected—and some may be ready to go to court.
Missouri may have been the first state to order public universities to review their race-based scholarship, but others are beginning to follow.
In Ohio, where attorney general Dave Yost issued his own memorandum to colleges a few weeks after the affirmative action ban, public institutions have paused all race-based scholarships while they conduct a review of their legality. Daniel Pittman, Ohio University’s senior director of communications, declined to comment on the review’s findings, saying it is “ongoing.” But he noted that the university sought to honor its commitment to students and donors while complying with the law. Chris Booker, director of media and PR at Ohio State University, said his institution had “begun reviewing all possibly relevant scholarships” but that it was too soon to say how many would be affected.
That makes determining the legality of Missouri’s donor agreement amendments even more pressing, White said. If the board of curators’ petition is successful, he expects—even hopes—to see donors push back using the only recourse they have left: the courts. “If I were a donor caught up in this, I would absolutely sue,” he said. Basi said the UM system “wouldn’t speculate” on future legal challenges, adding that their decisions were based on careful reviews by the university’s legal team. Brazeal said he’d be unlikely to join a legal challenge to the university’s decision—but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t cheer it on. “I’m not keen on sorting things out through the courts, but sometimes that’s what it comes to,” he said. “In a way, I kind of hope it does. Maybe it would give the board [of curators] some accountability.” The Willis sisters said they don’t really have the money to take on the University of Missouri in court by themselves. But if there were a larger class action suit including other donors? “Then we’re in,” Willis said. “Absolutely.”''
