Race-Exclusive Residency Program Earns University of Nebraska Federal Civil Rights Complaint

The University of Nebraska was hit with a federal civil rights complaint on Monday for sponsoring a residency program for black filmmakers.

The complaint, filed by the Equal Protection Project, a nonprofit legal organization, alleged that the Black Public Media residency program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln illegally discriminates on the basis of race and requested that the Department of Education launch a federal civil rights investigation into the school.

“UNL’s creation, ongoing sponsorship and active promotion of a program giving admissions preference based on race and skin color violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as well as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (‘Title VI’) and its implementing regulations,” the complaint stated.

According to the University of Nebraska website, the Black Public Media residency is a partnership with the New York-based nonprofit group Black Public Media that was launched in the summer of 2022 for “black filmmakers, creative technologists and artists who need access to emerging technology, studio time or work space.”

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