Washington University in St. Louis is facing a massive 165-page federal civil rights complaint alleging the institution has engaged in systemic, race-based discrimination while pocketing billions in taxpayer funds.
The complaint, filed this week with the Department of Justice by America First Legal (AFL), accuses the university of willfully ignoring federal law and executive orders by rebranding its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) infrastructure under new names such as “Inclusive Excellence” rather than dismantling it.
The core of the allegation rests on the claim that WashU is violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions, which struck down affirmative action.
Despite President Trump’s 2025 Executive Order 14151, which prohibits race and sex based DEI structures in federally funded programs, AFL asserts WashU has spent months using legal counsel to find ways to preserve discriminatory practices.
“This position defies common sense. Institutions that are complying with the law do not spend months delaying action and convening lawyers to figure out how to proceed,” said Megan Redshaw, an attorney at America First Legal.
“Washington University did not misunderstand the law. It chose to ignore it and preserve unlawful DEI practices through rebranding, bureaucratic maneuvering, and euphemisms. That is not compliance. It is concealment.”
/1🚨BREAKING — AFL has filed a 165-page complaint with DOJ against Washington University in St. Louis for systemic DEI practices that discriminate by race, sex, and other protected characteristics while receiving billions in taxpayer funds. pic.twitter.com/KdsJgmx4ut
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) January 7, 2026
Since 2021, Washington University has received over $3.1 billion in federal grants, including hundreds of millions from the National Institutes of Health. The complaint argues the university used these funds to play favorites based on race in its research and job training programs.
The university’s “Supplier Engagement & Development” program, formerly known as “Supplier Diversity,” is accused of illegally steering lucrative contracts toward minority and women-owned businesses.
At WashU’s Olin Business School, the complaint says, students’ grades and career opportunities aren’t just about how hard they work; they depend on whether they play along with the school’s views on identity and race.
The complaint says the school is actually splitting students up by race and sex in the classroom and then grading them on how well they embrace terms such as “privilege” or “systemic inequity.” If you don’t agree or if you speak up against these ideas, you could see your GPA take a hit.
This isn’t the first time the university has been caught trying to sidestep the rules.
Just last year, reports surfaced that the WashU School of Medicine tried to hide its DEI office on a restricted-access floor instead of shutting it down as the federal government required.
Now, America First Legal is asking the Department of Justice to step in and really look under the hood at how WashU is operating. They want a full audit of the $3.1 billion in taxpayer money the school has received over the last few years.
They are even asking the government to freeze all future funding until the university can prove it has completely cleared out its DEI programs once and for all.
With the Trump administration pushing hard to get identity politics out of our schools, time will tell as to whether universities such as WashU can keep their illegal DEI programs alive with fancy new names, or if they’ll finally have to return to a system where merit and hard work are the only things that matter.
