Republican lawmakers are urging the Department of Education to investigate government-funded universities involved in a Google-sponsored scholarship that placed restrictions on white and Asian students.
Representatives Chip Roy (R, TX-21), Mary Miller (R, IL-15) and Bob Good (R, VA-5) sent a letter at Education Secretary Miguel Cardona asking him to check whether federal anti-discrimination laws can be used against universities that have participated in the Google Ph.D. Fellowship Program.
The Google Ph.D. Fellowship, which allows participating universities to nominate four Ph.D. students each year, came under fire this year from advocates for limiting the number of white and Asian students universities can appoint.
“Universities in the United States and Canada may nominate up to four eligible students in computer science or related fields,” said one. FAQ page removed of Google’s awareness program read. “If more than two are nominated, in order to increase opportunities for underrepresented students in computer science, additional nominees must self-identify as female, black/African American, Native American/Native of Alaskan, Hispanic/Latinx, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and/or Person with Disability In other words, if a university chooses to nominate more than 2 students, the 3rd and 4th named students must identify themselves to the underrepresented group mentioned above.
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Following complaints that the policy discriminated against Asians, Google quietly changed the FAQ. Instead of the previous quota requirement, the company “strongly encourages[s]additional nominees from the previously mentioned categories.
“We encourage the nomination of students from diverse backgrounds, especially those from groups historically marginalized in the field of computing,” said the the page says now. “If more than two students are nominated, we strongly encourage additional applicants who identify as female, of Black/African, Hispanic/Latino/Latino, Indigenous and/or person with disabilities.”
Edward Blum, founder of the advocacy group Students for Fair Admissions, accused the program of racial prejudice.
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“The Google Fellowship program is a blatantly illegal and immoral quota scheme that pits students against each other based on their skin color and ethnicity,” Blum said. “Our nation’s enduring civil rights laws were passed to specifically prohibit this type of racial discrimination.”
Lawmakers have argued that the program violates Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972which prohibits racial discrimination in federally funded colleges.
In their letter, the Republican lawmakers echoed the attorney’s view on the matter, pointing out that the Google Fellowship imposed “unconstitutional citations on racial and sexual diversity.”
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“Any federally funded university that has changed its nomination criteria to meet Google’s discriminatory and harmful rules has unfairly deprived talented and hard-working students of the opportunity to even be considered for one of the world’s most valuable scholarships. STEM world, solely because of their race, gender, or disability status,” the letter read. “The American people deserve answers and transparency, and every gifted STEM student at a community-funded university taxpayers deserve a level playing field.”
Image selected via Google
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