In 2023, Ron DeSantis declared an end to DEI in the state of Florida.
But FSU President Richard McCullough apparently missed the memo.
And the federal government caught Florida State University running 32 scholarship programs that sort students by race and sex – and McCullough's only defense is a definition of the word "preference."
FSU Rewrote the Labels But Kept the Discrimination
The Trump administration's Department of Education opened a formal civil rights investigation into Florida State University on August 4th, targeting 32 scholarship programs accused of discriminating based on race, sex, or national origin in violation of Title VI and Title IX.
The investigation stems from a complaint filed in July 2025 by the Equal Protection Project – a conservative legal watchdog run by Cornell Law professor William Jacobson.
Jacobson didn't mince words about what he found at FSU.
"Florida State, surprisingly, has one of the largest contingencies of discriminatory scholarships that we've seen anywhere," he told Fox News Digital.
His organization has challenged over 275 colleges and universities nationwide – and FSU nearly topped the list.
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The 34-page complaint breaks down 32 programs into 14 scholarships that discriminate based on race or national origin, 13 based on sex, and five based on both.
McCullough's defense is the part that should make your blood boil.
FSU claims all students can technically apply – because the racial and sex preferences are listed as donor preferences, not hard eligibility requirements.
One scholarship – the Crockett Family Fund for Excellence – states any student may apply, but notes it is the donor's preference the recipient be an African American or Black student.
Another – the Crossman Career Builders Scholarship – expresses a donor preference for a female recipient who is Black or African American, Hispanic, or a member of the Seminole Tribe.
A third – the Dynamic African American Women in Engineering Powerhouse Scholarship – prefers an African American female student.
Florida State calls these preferences. Jacobson calls them what they are.
McCullough Knows This Playbook
"Rather than doing away with it, they play word games," Jacobson said. "And that's just not good enough."
He's right – and here's why McCullough's legal defense falls apart.
These scholarships run through the Florida State University system.
FSU promotes them. FSU administers them. FSU awards them.
The fact that a private donor expressed the preference doesn't remove FSU's legal responsibility one bit.
"They try to couch this in terms of offloading the blame onto the donor," Jacobson said. "These are scholarships promoted by and awarded through the Florida State University system. Legally, they are responsible."
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Worth noting: before McCullough became FSU's president in 2021, he spent years as Harvard University's vice provost for research – the same institution that has been under federal civil rights scrutiny for years over its own admissions and scholarship practices.
He knows exactly what this fight looks like.
The Equal Protection Project has never lost a claim on the merits.
They have racked up over 175 wins, triggered more than 40 federal investigations, and challenged discriminatory programs at universities across the country since launching in 2023.
When Jacobson's group shows up, universities tend to fold – or get investigated.
FSU now faces both.
The Office for Civil Rights confirmed it will act as a neutral factfinder and noted that opening the investigation does not mean FSU has already been found in violation.
But Jacobson was clear this is not a routine intake letter.
"It is very significant that the U.S. Department of Education has opened this for a formal investigation," he said. "That doesn't happen in every case."
"This is a preliminary step, but it's a very large preliminary step," he added.
The Man DeSantis Trusted Just Got His University Investigated
Here is what makes this story particularly damning for McCullough personally.
FSU's board gave him a three-year contract extension in February 2026.
DeSantis signed the anti-DEI law in May 2023.
The Florida Board of Education formally banned state and federal funds for DEI programs in January 2024.
The rules don't just discourage DEI – they define it and prohibit it by name.
And yet here is Richard McCullough's Florida State University – sitting in Tallahassee, the state capital – running what Jacobson calls some of the most aggressively discriminatory scholarship programs in the country.
"The culture on the campuses has not caught up yet with the politics," Jacobson said. "Florida famously has cracked down on wokeness and DEI and discrimination more so than blue states. So it's very surprising to find such aggressive discriminatory scholarships at Florida State University."
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Trump's DOE hasn't just opened the FSU investigation – it is running a national enforcement campaign that has already pushed over 300 colleges and universities to eliminate DEI requirements, close DEI offices, and scrap diversity statements from hiring practices.
McCullough has a choice: keep playing word games with the federal government, or clean house.
The Equal Protection Project says it wants the discrimination shut down – not the scholarship money eliminated.
"We do not want the scholarships disbanded or shut down," Jacobson said. "We want the discrimination disbanded and shut down. Keep the funding, give the students the money, but give everybody a fair shot."
McCullough got a contract extension five months ago and has been presiding over this for years.
He should spend some of that time explaining to DeSantis why his university is on a federal civil rights watch list.
Sources:
- Jasmine Baehr, "Florida State University Hit With Federal Civil Rights Investigation Over Race, Sex-Based Scholarship Programs," Fox News, August 13, 2026.
- William A. Jacobson, "Thirty-Two Discriminatory Scholarships at Florida State Univ. Challenged By Equal Protection Project," Legal Insurrection, July 27, 2025.
- Alexandra Horwitz, "Complaint Alleges 32 Scholarships at Florida State U. Discriminate on Race, Gender," The College Fix, August 11, 2025.
- "State Board of Education Passes Rule to Permanently Prohibit DEI in the Florida College System," Florida Department of Education, January 17, 2024.
- "U.S. Department of Education Investigates Five Medical Schools as Trump Administration Pushes to End Racial Discrimination in Admissions," U.S. Department of Education, 2026.
- "Taking Stock of Trump's Higher Education Reforms," Minding the Campus, July 2026.
