The Wisconsin Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court’s decision that a state program that distributes grants to minority college students is unconstitutional.
In its ruling this week, the court ordered the state to end the Higher Educational Aids Board’s Minority Undergraduate Retention Grant Program.
“Appellants contend the statute and program violate the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution,” the ruling states. “They provide taxpayer-funded college grants for which financially needy students of only certain racial, national origin, ancestry and alienage groups are eligible.”
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In 2021, Kiki Rabiebna and Richard Freihoefer sued the Higher Educational Aids Board in Jefferson County Circuit Court, alleging their son was ineligible for a scholarship because of his race.
“We need to stop discrimination everywhere,” Freihoefer said in a statement after the Appellate Court ruling. “Too often, taxpayers are unknowingly funding inefficient, wasteful, and illegal efforts by their own government.”
The family is represented by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty. Their attorney, Dan Lennington, said the decision was a “true turning point in the fight for true equality in the state and country.”
Tammie DeVooght, who heads the Higher Educational Aids Board, said the board is reviewing the decision and has no comment at this time.
The Minority Undergraduate Retention Grant program was established by the state Legislature in the 1985-87 biennial budget.
Awards are based on financial need, with a minimum grant of $250 and a maximum grant of $2,500 per year. According to statute, a minority student is defined as a student who is a Black American, American Indian, Hispanic, or Southeast Asian from Laos, Cambodia, or Vietnam admitted to the United States after Dec. 31, 1975. If eligible, a student may receive the grant for up to eight semesters or 12 quarters.
According to the program’s 2023-24 annual report, 770 students received a Minority Undergraduate Retention Grant award that year. Of those, 244 grant recipients attended a nonprofit, independent college, university or tribal college and 526 recipients attended a Wisconsin Technical College.
The grant total in 2023-24 was $440,433.
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