In a civil rights complaint, conservative groups allege the university is discriminating based on race and political views
A conservative organization that sought to host a debate about the American dream in the black community at the University of the District of Columbia alleges the institution is committing racial and viewpoint discrimination.
Gabriel Nadales, national director of Our America Foundation, said the public university simply could have denied the event request.
Instead, the historically black Washington, D.C. school “specifically invoked race and nationality among other protected classes to make their decision. And as a public university receiving public funds, the university cannot make a decision based on race,” he told The College Fix in a phone interview Tuesday.
On Monday, Our America and Fair for All, a liberty-focused civil rights organization, filed a complaint against the university to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights.
The complaint, a copy of which was provided to The Fix, alleges the public university violated Title VI by “intentionally discriminating against” students, the foundation, and proposed debate panelists based on their race.
These panelists include FAIR Executive Director Monica Harris and Our America advisor Deroy Murdock, both of whom are black.
The university “denied OAF’s proposed debate … due to the racial and national origin identities of UDC’s students and the perceived incompatibility of OAF’s panelists’ (Hispanic and Black) perspectives with UDC’s racially motivated criteria for discourse,” the complaint states.
Additionally, the university violated “the First Amendment by restricting protected speech based on viewpoint in a public forum,” it alleges.
MORE: UPenn class to explore ‘violence’ threatening ‘Black food culture’
The document references a conversation between Nadales and political science Professor Monique Gamble in May about Our America’s request to hold a debate on campus in the fall.
The proposed topic was, “Is The American Dream Alive for Black Americans.” Our America’s mission is to build a diverse coalition of people who support the American values of equal opportunity, mutual respect and freedom of expression.
However, Gamble, the program coordinator for the university political science program, rejected the request. According to the complaint, she told Nadales:
“Our university is comprised of many students whose identities actually do put them at risk in a society that has a known history of criminalizing race, gender, sexuality, immigration and socio-economic status. In my view, it’s not enough to be ‘part of the conversation.’ These conversations should unequivocally acknowledge the risks that people with marginalized and politicized identities face in their lives daily. At UDC, we do not entertain these realities as debatable.”
The problem was that Gamble “explicitly” brought up the racial identities of UDC students and those of the event’s participants as a reason for her decision, according to the complaint.
She also based her decision on the host groups’ “perspectives on racial issues,” saying they “were incompatible with UDC’s racially motivated criteria for acceptable discourse,” the complaint states.
When The Fix contacted Gamble about the complaint, an email reply stated she was away on summer break until Aug. 18.
The Fix also contacted the university media relations office, Board of Trustees Chair Warner Session and board assistant Frenika Rivers twice this week, but none responded.
Ultimately, Nadales said Our America and FAIR hope the complaint will prompt the university to change its events policy, which allows its employees to “discriminate based on viewpoint.” The policy states that UDC facilities are available to outside groups “that have a purpose which is consistent with the university’s mission.”
Nadales said he also hopes the university will become more open to civil dialogue in the future.
“Unfortunately, there are some people – professors, educators, academics – who sit in ivory towers and who believe that they know what’s best for marginalized communities,” he said.
“What I find insulting is that being brown like myself or black like [the debate] panelists somehow puts you in a category …” Nadales told The Fix.
“UDC is basically telling its minority students that their voices don’t matter, so don’t bother talking with people who disagree with you” – an idea that is “definitely not healthy for a civil society,” he said.
Nadales said Our America still is working on plans to hold the debate this fall in another location.
“It would be amazing if UDC was to open its doors to having a debate,” he told The Fix. But “I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Editor’s note: Deroy Murdock is a member of The College Fix’s journalism advisory board.
MORE: ‘We accept virtually all students of color,’ Grand Valley State director says
IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: The University of the District of Columbia displays its event policy on its website; University of the District of Columbia website