Augsburg University is facing a federal civil rights complaint after allegedly hosting racially-segregated faculty and staff lunches that bar white employees from attending.
The complaint, filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), alleges that the university’s “Faculty and Staff of Color BYO Lunch Gatherings” violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans racial discrimination by federally funded institutions.
According to the complaint, Augsburg has been openly promoting and hosting these exclusively “staff of color” gatherings, with upcoming events scheduled for Feb. 14, March 7, and April 11, 2025. Similar lunches took place on multiple dates in 2024 and early 2025.
An internal source at Augsburg, who is not a person of color, confirmed that 189 faculty and staff members were invited to a recent gathering—all exclusively people of color, according to the complaint. White employees were not invited, the complaint says.
The source, a faculty or staff member, said they verified with colleagues that white employees have never been invited to these gatherings and that the event’s name itself signals its exclusionary nature, the complaint explains.
Professor: ‘Clear violation’ of federal law
The complaint was filed by Mark J. Perry, an emeritus professor at the University of Michigan and a longtime civil rights advocate, who has previously filed nearly 1,000 federal complaints against race-based programs at colleges and universities.
In an email to Augsburg’s president and leadership team, Perry accused the university of blatant racial discrimination and demanded an immediate policy review.
“There are no ‘unless you have good intentions’ exceptions to Title VI,” Perry wrote, citing U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner Peter Kirsanow. “Discrimination based on race and color is still unlawful even if it advantages faculty and staff of the ‘right’ colors or races for the ‘right’ reasons.”
He warned Augsburg that racially-segregated events are “legally indefensible” and unlikely to withstand an OCR investigation.
He also highlighted that Augsburg’s own anti-discrimination policy explicitly forbids race-based exclusion, stating that the university does not discriminate based on race, color, or national origin in its programs, employment, or activities.
Perry then cited a recent executive order aimed at ending race-based preferences in higher education, warning Augsburg that racially-exclusive programs could put its federal funding in jeopardy.
Alpha News reached out to Perry, Augsburg for comment
Perry told Alpha News that universities continue to violate Title VI for two key reasons.
First, he said many discriminatory programs are never reviewed by legal counsel, stating, “I’m confident that if Augsburg’s legal representatives had reviewed the racially segregated ‘no whites allowed’ Faculty and Staff of Color BYO Lunch Gatherings, they would have never approved such race-based discrimination that is legally indefensible.”
Second, Perry believes universities knowingly engage in unlawful discrimination because they prioritize “special preferences and advantages to preferred groups like BIPOCs and women” over compliance with the law. He said administrators act “as if they’re above the law” and assume they won’t face challenges. Even if they do, he argues, they simply discontinue or alter the programs after benefiting the favored groups.
Alpha News reached out to Augsburg University for comment on the federal civil rights complaint, but the school did not respond.
