The University of South Carolina was hit with a Title VI complaint after it attempted to create a special academic program that expressly excluded whites from participation. The requirements for its Business Success Academy limited eligibility to accepted high school juniors or seniors who identified as “African American or Black, Hispanic, LatinX, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian, Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or Two or More Races.” It took a formal complaint to get the public school to agree to drop racial exclusions.
According to the conservative site Campus Reform, the application has been revised to declare the program is “[open] to all Rising High School Juniors and Seniors in South Carolina.” The posting further states that “students from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.”
The academy meets in June and students completing the course will be eligible to receive a $5,000 renewable award for up to four years upon enrollment to the school.
There has been no statement from the university on the use of a threshold racial exclusion for the program or who reviewed or approved the race-based criteria.