Ohio’s five public law schools have ended their race-based programs and scholarships following an investigation by the conservative think tank, The Buckeye Institute. The probe, launched in response to the Supreme Court’s 2023 decisions in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina, revealed that the law schools were operating unconstitutional, race-based internship programs or scholarships.
As a result, the law schools have updated their scholarships to ensure compliance with the law. For instance, Ohio State University is now awarding scholarships on a case-by-case basis, without considering protected classes. Similarly, the University of Cincinnati ended six scholarships that explicitly prioritized minority or underrepresented students based on race, color, or nationality.
The Buckeye Institute sent public records requests to the law schools, which revealed the existence of these unconstitutional programs. The think tank then informed the schools that these programs breached Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The affected law schools are:
– Ohio State University
– Cleveland State University
– University of Akron
– University of Cincinnati
– University of Toledo
The Buckeye Institute’s investigation has sparked debate on the use of race-based affirmative action programs in university admissions. While some argue that these programs are necessary to promote diversity, others contend that they are unconstitutional and discriminatory.
