Ithaca School District Accused of Discriminating Against White Students for Years

A civil rights complaint filed against an Ithaca, New York school district alleges that White students were systematically excluded from an event for "students of color" for four years. The Equal Protection Project, the group that filed the complaint, claims that the district's actions violated federal anti-discrimination laws.

FIRST ON FOX – The Ithaca City School District (ICSD) is facing a civil rights complaint alleging that it systematically excluded White students from an event for "students of color." The complaint, filed by the Equal Protection Project (EPP), alleges that the district engaged in "open, prolonged, and intentional racial discrimination" against White students for four years, from 2021-2024.

The EPP, a nonprofit that opposes racial discrimination in any form, sent the complaint to the U.S. Department of Education suggesting White students were being discriminated against for years.

Ithaca School District Accused of Discriminating Against White Students for Years

The complaint alleges that the district promoted a Students of Color Summit 2024 on Ithaca High School’s campus earlier this year that said the event was for "Students of Color in grades 6-12." After backlash, the district apologized for using "exclusionary language" and all students were ultimately welcomed to the event.

The complaint alleges that the district's actions violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI). The EPP is asking the Department of Education to open an investigation and to take remedial measures regarding the "systemic racial discrimination at ICSD against White students regarding SOCU Summits during 2021-2024" and "whether ICSD made material misrepresentations to OCR in 2023" when the ICSD said the District’s programming is open to all participants regardless of race while simultaneously "excluding" White students. 

Ithaca School District Accused of Discriminating Against White Students for Years

The complaint includes various emails and screenshots of ICSD noting the events were for non-White students. Among the examples is an email sent from a Summit organizer who complained "we are being forced to include White students due to a complaint that we are engaging in segregation" that was sent after the school board apologized for using "exclusionary language." 

Cornell Law School professor and Legal Insurrection Foundation president William A. Jacobson, who founded the Equal Protection Project, said proof that White students were excluded is overwhelming and complaints that White students were eventually allowed is "evidence that White students were systematically excluded in prior years." 

Ithaca School District Accused of Discriminating Against White Students for Years

"The 4-year-long open discrimination against White students for 'Students of Color' summits in the Ithaca City School District is shocking because it was so brazen and had the support of dozens of teachers, administrators, and even the Board of Education. This was not a student group or individual staff member gone rogue, this was an entire school district gone rogue, ignoring clear federal, state, and local nondiscrimination laws," Jacobson told Fox News Digital. 

"When members of the community complained about the discrimination, their legitimate concerns about unlawful conduct were brushed aside. The Board of Education was aware of the problem and helped try to sweep it away," Jacobson added. "This raises serious concerns as to whether ICSD has the type of internal supervision needed to achieve compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws."

Jacobson feels the OCR should consider appointing a civil rights monitor for ICSD, because the district "cannot be trusted to self-supervise when it comes to discrimination and its promises to stop discriminating cannot be relied upon." 

The EPP feels that "because ICSD is a public school district, these programs that discriminate based on race and skin color violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution." 

"Further, because ICSD also receives federal funding,7 these programs also violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) and its implementing regulations," the complaint said. 

The Ithaca City School District did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The Ithaca City School District, located in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, has over 5,000 students, according to its website. 

The EPP has asked the Dept. of Education "to impose remedial relief regarding ICSD’s systemic four-year exclusion of White students from Students of Color United Summits, and to ensure that all ongoing and future programming through ICSD comport with federal civil rights laws."