Department of Education launches investigation into UCCS for ‘race-exclusionary practices’
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - According to the Department of Education (DOE), the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs (UCCS) is under investigation for alleged "race-exclusionary practices."
The DOE alleges that UCCS and more than 40 other universities partnered with an organization called "The Ph.D. Project." That organization, according to the DOE, provides insights for students hoping to earn a Ph.D., but limits the eligibility based on a student's race.
A complaint sent to UCCS says the group was only open to "students who identify as Black/African American, Latinx/Hispanic American, or Native American/Canadian Indigenous."
The DOE says they sent a letter to the universities on Feb. 14 stating that "they must cease using race preferences and stereotypes as a factor in their admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, sanctions, discipline, and other programs and activities."
Information from the Wayback Machine, an internet archiving tool, appears to show that The Ph.D. Project has recently scrubbed certain buzz words off their website. The website homepage currently says "Enriching education for all." However, the Wayback Machine shows the website said "Building a stronger, more diverse workforce. Together" back on Jan. 13.
Other examples of potentially scrubbed vocabulary can be seen below, including the deletion of phrases like "historically underrepresented groups."
In another example, the Wayback Machine shows the organization changed "historically underrepresented backgrounds" to say "various backgrounds."
UCCS says they received official notification of the launch of an investigation this week.
The university provided the following statement:
Our campus was notified late Thursday that the U.S. Department of Education is investigating a complaint regarding our College of Business’ use of a faculty recruiting platform, hosted by The PhD Project. At this point, we believe we have only used this platform to advertise open faculty positions, one tool of many our college uses to recruit qualified faculty. Like universities across the country, we use various platforms to seek and recruit the best teaching and research talent for our students. We are in the process of gathering additional information about this complaint and will comply with the request from the department in a timely manner. We want to say clearly, however, that UCCS does not discriminate in its recruitment or hiring practices.
-UCCS Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet
As part of the investigation, UCCS will be required to submit information to the DOE by March 31. Some of this information includes whether students or staff were excluded on the basis of their race. They will also be required to share information on the number of students or staff who participated in the program and what their races were.
