UAB, Not University of Alabama, Under Federal Investigation for Racial Discrimination
It is apparently the University of Alabama at Birmingham, not the University of Alabama here in Tuscaloosa, being investigated by President Donald Trump's Department of Education for alleged racial discrimination.
In their release, the OCR listed seven schools "under investigation for alleged impermissible race-based scholarships and race-based segregation," and that list originally included the University of Alabama.
Since then, the press release has been unceremoniously updated and UA was replaced with the University of Alabama at Birmingham - a separate institution with its own campus, faculty and staff, and around 20,000 students, though both schools fall into the University of Alabama System.
UA students and staff were on Spring Break last week and their Strategic Communications team was not able to issue a statement immediately after the Friday announcement from the Department, but did so on their return Monday.
"The University of Alabama has not been contacted by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights about the investigation announced Friday and is no longer listed in the press release," a UA spokesperson said on Monday after the edit was made.
The dozens of investigations announced on Friday follow a February letter from the US DoE's Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor which previewed a new direction for the Department.
"In recent years, American educational institutions have discriminated against students on the basis of race, including white and Asian students, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds and low-income families," Trainor wrote. "These institutions’ embrace of pervasive and repugnant race-based preferences and other forms of racial discrimination have emanated throughout every facet of academia. For example, colleges, universities, and K-12 schools have routinely used race as a factor in admissions, financial aid, hiring, training, and other institutional programming."
Since her confirmation, the Department has been led by Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, a former professional wrestling promoter whose stated "final" mission at the Department is to dismantle it.
The Friday announcement from McMahon concluded with the threat to cut federal funding from institutions found to be violating Title VI under these interpretations.
According to UAB's 2024 Financial Report, they received more than half a billion dollars in federal grants and contracts last fiscal year alone - a staggering $534,363,989.
Calls for comment from UAB's Office of Marketing and Communications were not returned before the publication of this report.
A listed number for the US Department of Education's Press Office was not answered.
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