The suit says the University of Oklahoma violated the 14th Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by giving some financial aid only because of race. The school, according to the lawsuit, deleted information to "obscure the extent to which it has engaged in race-based decision making."
Melanie Collette, ambassador for the Project 21 Black Leadership Network, contends that violates the law and the U.S. Constitution.
"The reason why we have the 14th Amendment is because of discrimination against black people," she explains. "And of course, that made it illegal to discriminate against people because of the color of their skin.
"But I guess what people don't seem to realize or seem to forget is that that goes both ways: It means you also cannot discriminate against white people."
The lawsuit was originally filed in May by three students who are described as "white and non-Hispanic" on their college applications.
Collette said the shift to so-called "equity" has not been good. "Now you have black people who actually want same outcome when all of the other variables may not be the same," she says. "So, it's really kind of sad what has happened with the equal rights movement, in my opinion."
A review by The College Fix suggests that the university also deleted more pages after the lawsuit was filed.
"[And] that's why you always have to get the screenshots before you delete; that's number one," Collette tells AFN. "Before you file the lawsuits, you've got to get the screenshots. Otherwise, they will do that. But that also kind of speaks to their guilt, I would think."
