The nonprofit law organization America First Legal filed a federal civil rights complaint with the United States Department of Education June 24 alleging Colorado State University is violating federal antidiscrimination law. The complaint argues that CSU’s diversity, equity and inclusion programs violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Executive Order 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” which was enacted by President Donald Trump Jan. 21.

According to AFL’s complaint, several Colorado State programs, classes and offices “violate federal law.”

Cited in the letter, sent to both the Department of Education and CSU Chancellor Tony Frank and President Amy Parsons, was CSU’s Faculty Recruitment Toolkit, a guide to hiring University employees provided by CSU’s Human Resources website.

The toolkit includes resources like how to best hire diverse staff members including “Choosing (a) search committee, delivering a thorough and thoughtful charge meeting; training and educating the search committee on topics such as bias, microaggressions, and inclusive language; writing a position description that focuses on using inclusive language; creating a plan to evaluate all candidates; and promoting ongoing active recruitment practices that engage many talented colleagues at every opportunity,” according to the toolkit.

The complaint also alleges that CSU engages in discriminatory practices by providing scholarships based on “immutable characteristics.” The AFL letter to CSU specifically mentions the Diversity Matters College of Business scholarship, Hilburn Mier LGBTQ+ STEM Scholarship Endowment and LGBTQ+ Scholarship Fund as examples of what AFL calls “discriminatory scholarships” offered by CSU.

Further listed as violations are the All University Core Curriculum Category 1c requirement. Category 1c is described as “Courses (that) engage students in the study of cultural identities, explore the interactions among these identities, and reflect upon patterns of interaction related to the larger contexts in which they take place, focusing predominantly on US cultures as they are situated within a global context,” according to the CSU course guide.

Class options include a variety of history, sociology, ethnic studies, political science, economics and other disciplines, but the AFL’s complaint names ETST 256 Border Crossings—People/Politics/Culture; IU 173A Thinking Toward a Thriving Planet: Approaches to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion; SOC 205 Sociology of Race and Racism, SOWK 130 Identity, Power, and Social Justice; and ECON 212 Racial Inequality and Discrimination as classes violating the executive order.

ETST 256, IU 173A and SOWK 130 are not being offered for the fall 2025 semester according to CSU’s Office of the Registrar, but remain listed in the CSU course catalogue as potential classes.

Also mentioned in the letter is CSU’s Bias Reporting system.

“CSU also likely violates the First Amendment with its Bias Reporting System, which encourages CSU community members to report “(a)ny act of () bias,’” The letter states. “The University reviews submitted bias reports, and if the Bias Assessment Team members determine an ‘Incident of Bias’ has occurred, ‘optional conversations’ akin to a struggle session are offered to’“individuals and groups who, whether intentionally or not, may have caused harm to others related to some form of bias.’ This ‘Bias Reporting System’ leads to a ‘chilling effect’ on campus and likely violates students’ First Amendment rights.”

Also listed as violations were CSU’s Office of Inclusive Excellence, with the letter stating “Following the Trump Administration’s Executive Action ending illegal discrimination, the University recently revamped the Office of Inclusive Excellence website to hide its continued use of DEI policies. Despite this website revamp, the policies previously espoused by the Office of Inclusive Excellence remain installed.”

Finally, the optional Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging module, which is provided to new students before RamWelcome orientation, is cited as a violation. “The University states that the DIB Module ‘is an important step to help students understand the principles and apply them to their work, education, and life,'” the letter states. “The principles that CSU is referencing include ‘Inclusion’ and ‘Social Justice.’ CSU even proudly displays these principles across the halls of its campus.”

The letters to both the DOE and CSU include the same information, with background provided including Parsons’ Feb. 18 campuswide email addressing new federal directives.

The AFL closed their letter to the DOE with “Accordingly, we ask that OCR promptly open a directed investigation into the allegations in the complaint, take all actions necessary to remedy the unlawful practices and procedures, and order all appropriate relief.”

In the letter to CSU, the AFL closed with “We therefore urge Colorado State University to abide by federal statutory and Constitutional law, iterated in Executive Order 14173, and live up to President Parson’s own words in the closing paragraph of her letter to the CSU community— words that mirror those of President Trump in his E.O.—in which she wrote that, ‘(t)he heart of what it means to be a Ram—a commitment to unlocking the doors of opportunity for all—will remain strong.'”

The letters were published to the AFL’s website June 24. According to the DOE’s Office of Civil Rights website, proceedings for investigating complaints can include reviewing documentary evidence submitted by both parties, interviewing relevant parties and site visits.

“At the conclusion of its investigation, OCR will determine, with regard to each allegation, whether … there is insufficient evidence to support a conclusion that the recipient failed to comply with the law, or a preponderance of the evidence supports a conclusion that the recipient failed to comply with the law,” the OCR website states.

However, not every complaint is investigated by the DOE and OCR.

A few of the pertinent reasons why the OCR would dismiss an investigation request include: “OCR does not have legal authority to investigate the complaint; the complaint fails to state a violation of one of the laws OCR enforces; the complaint was not filed timely (within 180 calendar days of the date of the alleged discrimination) and a waiver of the timeliness requirement was not granted; the complaint is speculative, conclusory, or incoherent, or lacks sufficient detail to infer discrimination and the complainant does not provide the information that OCR requests within 14 calendar days of OCR’s request, unless the complainant requests additional time to provide the requested information,” according to their website.

The AFL is a conservative legal organization founded by current White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and led by several former Trump administration top officials and considers itself “the long-awaited answer to the ACLU,” according to their website.

“CSU ought to stop discriminating based on race, sex, national origin, and other immutable characteristics and comply with federal law and President Trump’s Executive Order,” said Nick Barry, Senior Counsel at America First Legal in the AFL’s press release. “Trying to ‘hide’ the discrimination isn’t the solution. Stopping is the solution. Otherwise, CSU is risking the loss of a third of its budget, which comes from federal funds.”

At the time of publishing, CSU had not replied to requests for comment.

Editor’s Note: This is a developing story. Updates will be provided as available. 

Reach Allie Seibel at news@collegian.com or on social media @allie_seibel_.