(Washington, D.C.) – In response to the Treasury Department’s released rules that would prevent schools with race-based programs from qualifying for tax-exempt status, Ethan Rome, Campaign Director of the Emergency Campaign to Support Higher Education, released the following statement:

“This is a politically-driven federal overreach on steroids. Using the federal government to attack Universities that are protecting civil rights and providing opportunities for students to improve their lives is obscene and fundamentally anti-American.

It’s a blatant abuse of power and a direct assault on Black, brown, indigenous, immigrant, and first-generation students. It’s also an assault on the very heart of higher education — creating opportunities for students to thrive, no matter who they are or where they are from.

This craven rule is about much more than colleges and universities. There’s no reason to expect that the administration will stop there. This weaponizes the IRS to go after any non-profits that promote racial justice and diversity, including churches, mosques, synagogues, and other religious institutions.”