The Center for Equal Opportunity and the American Civil Rights Institute have filed approximately 100 complaints against colleges and universities that offer scholarships that the group believes are discriminatory.
According to the CEO Web site, the aim of the organization is to focus on "colorblind equal opportunity and racial harmony."
The complaints were lodged with various schools in question -- including Pepperdine and Stanford universities, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- and then sent to the U.S. Department of Education.
Penn officials, however, were unaware of any complaints about scholarships against the University.
Universities that receive federal money are not allowed to discriminate based on race, color or national origin under the Title Six clause of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the schools that received letters from CEO offer scholarships or other programs that did just that, according to the complaint.
At Penn, officials did not believe they were the target of any inquiries from CEO.
"I personally have not received any complaints. ... Based on my understanding [of the recent affirmative action decision, scholarships] can't discriminate based on race," said Machamma Quinichett, associate director of the African-American Resource Center.
Student Financial Services employee Diane Lombardi also said that she was unaware of any complaints against the University.
Roger Clegg, general counsel for CEO, said his organization has had particular trouble with a recent complaint against the Richard Eamer Scholars Program at Pepperdine University.
According to Clegg, the organization is "not trying to end any scholarship programs, just trying to open them up to all students."
According to Tabatha Jones, associate dean of students for Seaver College at Pepperdine, the Scholars Program offers scholarships to "underrepresented students of color with financial need who, through an application process, demonstrate their commitment to academic excellence, leadership, mentoring and service."
The program has distributed as much as $1,000 to each recipient each academic year since the early '90s, and the scholarship is only available to the specific demographic.
"I should emphasize that programs like Pepperdine's don't give preference -- they have a requirement in order to participate that you have to be a particular race," Clegg said.
While CEO is challenging these scholarship programs, it is a part of a larger movement to challenge the use of racial preference in higher education.
Last spring, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that race is an acceptable factor to consider in the college admissions process, reaffirming the validity of affirmative action in certain situations. The Court did specify that admissions officials could not set quotas for particular minority groups.
CEO opposes discrimination in "admissions, summer programs, financial aid and scholarships," Clegg said.
While many schools have agreed to modify their scholarships upon receiving the complaint, Pepperdine has so far refused to change the selection process for the scholarships.
According to David Baird, dean of the undergraduate college at Pepperdine, the scholarship in question accounts for only $47,000 out of the $30 million given each year to students with financial need.
Baird emphasized that the scholarship is strictly need-based and that it is the "right thing to do" in accordance with Pepperdine's Christian mission.
In an e-mail interview, Jones said that Pepperdine "intends to cooperate fully with the Department of Education [and] Office of Civil Rights."
Baird also asserted that Pepperdine is under the assumption that the scholarship is within the guidelines of the law.
"We continue to hope that Pepperdine will reconsider its position and make the scholarship available to all students," Clegg said.
