Civil Rights Experts Say Google Fellowship Is ‘Illegal,’ ‘Unlawful’ in New Report

Some civil rights experts say that Google’s Ph.D. fellowship is “illegal.”

On Tuesday, The Washington Free Beacon reported that lawyers are challenging the fellowship which provides nearly $100,000 for students who pursue a doctorate of computer science. They claim that the fellowship is illegal and requires them to impose racial restrictions.

The Google page explaining the fellowship states that if a university nominates more than 2 students, then the 3rd and 4th nominees must identify as Black/African descent, Hispanic/Latino/Latx, Indigenous and/or persons with disabilities.

Adam Mortara, an attorney on trial, advocates against affirmative-action admission practices. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 forbids use of race-based criteria.

According to him, it is against the law for Google’s to sign contracts that are based on race in accordance with the Civil Rights Act of 1866. Federal funds are not allowed to be used by universities for the nomination of students under Title VI, 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Edward Blum, the founder of Students for Fair Admissions, agreed and said the program “pits students against one another.”

He stated, according to the Free Beacon that “the Google Fellowship program” is an immoral and blatantly illegal quota program. “Our nation’s enduring civil rights laws were passed to specifically forbid this type of racial discrimination.”

Dan Morenoff, the executive director of the American Civil Rights Project, said that Google is using money to convince “elite” universities to violate Title VI.

“Google is using its pocket-book to incentivize America’s elite universities to violate Title VI,” he added. “It’s using its financial support to directly counter Congress’s policy.”

For its part, Google says the fellowship doesn’t break the law..

“Like many companies, we actively encourage a broad range of individuals to apply to our PhD Fellowship program in order to attract the widest and most representative pool of applicants possible—this follows all relevant laws and is extremely common to do,” a Google spokesperson said according to the Free Beacon. The selection process for fellowships does not depend on any demographic characteristics. Fellows are eligible for unrestricted funds for their education and, if they’re interested in working for Google, can apply for positions and follow the same hiring processes as other people.

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