Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita revealed Wednesday that he sent letters a week earlier to the presidents of Butler and DePauw universities, questioning their diversity, equity, and inclusion policies for potential violations of civil rights laws and nonprofit status requirements.
The letters, similar to an inquiry sent to Notre Dame University on May 9, asked the universities to provide information about their admissions and hiring practices, particularly any changes following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in the case Students for Fair Admission Inc. vs. President and Fellows of Harvard College. The decision effectively ended race-based affirmative action in college admissions.
Butler, DePauw and Notre Dame are private universities. Rokita asked Notre Dame to respond by June 9.
“The U.S. Supreme Court has made clear that racial discrimination of any kind in our education system is repugnant to our civil rights laws,” the Republican official said in a news release with links to the letters to DePauw’s Lori S. White and Butler’s James Danko.
The letters were dated May 28. Rokita wants responses from Butler and DePauw by June 27.
The release from Rokita said publicly available materials and statements from university leaders suggest that aspects of Butler’s and DePauw’s operations may involve policies that treat people differently based on race or ethnicity, employ race negatively in admissions or hiring decisions, or use racial stereotyping. Rokita said racial discrimination by nonprofit universities cannot align with the charitable purposes they are supposed to serve.
The universities were asked to explain whether and how race plays a role in their efforts to recruit, hire, and enroll members of underrepresented groups.
Rokita said the responses from Butler and DePauw will help determine if further action is necessary to ensure compliance with Indiana’s legal and moral commitment to racial equality.
Butler is in Indianapolis, and DePauw is in Greencastle.
This story was written by WISH-TV’s Gregg Montgomery.
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