April 15, 2021 GMT
MILWAUKEE (AP) A lawsuit filed Thursday by a Madison couple and others alleges that a college grant program for minorities violates the Wisconsin Constitution.
The complaint said grants offered by the state’s Higher Educational Aids Board are available to some minorities but not to others. Konkanok Rabiebna and Richard Freihoefer, of Madison, say their biracial teenage son is not eligible for the grant program.
“Government programs must be available to everybody, not just certain racial groups,” Rabiebna said in a statement.
The Minority Undergraduate Retention Grant program is open to those who are Black, Native American or Hispanic or who came to the United States from Vietnam, Laos or Thailand after December 1975, soon after the Vietnam War ended, the Journal Sentinel reported.
MADISON - A Madison couple sued the state Thursday over a college grant program for minorities that they argue violates the Wisconsin Constitution.
The suit, brought with the assistance of the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, contends the minority grant program operated by the state s Higher Educational Aids Board violates the clause of the state constitution that says everyone is equal. The grants are available to some minorities but not other minorities.
Those bringing the lawsuit want the grants to be given out based on financial need, not race.
Among those bringing the lawsuit are Konkanok Rabiebna and Richard Freihoefer of Madison. Rabiebna is from Thailand and Freihoefer is white. Their biracial teenage son does not qualify for the grant program.
Higher Educational Aids Board offers scholarships with narrow racial categories
The News: The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) filed a lawsuit in Jefferson County Circuit Court against the Higher Educational Aids Board, a state agency responsible for administering the Minority Undergraduate Retention Program, for violating the Wisconsin Constitution by discriminating based on race and national origin. WILL represents five Wisconsin taxpayers who object to the state of Wisconsin administering this race-based scholarship program.
The Quotes: WILL Deputy Counsel,
Dan Lennington, said, “The state of Wisconsin is engaged in race discrimination, pure and simple. Many students are denied scholarships based on their race or where their family comes from. This program violates the state Constitution and basic notions of equality and fairness.”
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty is helping Wisconsin taxpayers, including a biracial couple, sue the state over its “Minority Grant Program” because it turns out the college scholarship only applies to certain minorities in violation of the state Constitution.
The lawsuit, filed in Jefferson County Circuit Court on Thursday afternoon, contends that the Higher Educational Aids Board, the state agency that administers the Minority Undergraduate Retention Program, discriminates on the basis of race and national origin in how it distributes the scholarship and is thus unconstitutional.
“The state of Wisconsin is engaged in race discrimination, pure and simple,” said Dan Lennington, deputy counsel for the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty. “Many students are denied scholarships based on their race or where their family comes from. This program violates the state Constitution and basic notions of equality and fairness.”