Suit Against Illinois Minority Scholarship Program Can Continue

A Texas-based anti-affirmative action group has standing to sue Illinois over a scholarship program intended to encourage minority students to become teachers, an Illinois federal judge found Tuesday.

Chief Judge Sara Darrow of the Central District of Illinois denied the state’s motion to dismiss a suit from the American Alliance for Equal Rights, which claims the scholarship illegally discriminates against non-minorities. The Alliance wants an injunction barring the state from enforcing the program’s “racial exclusion” element.

The state argued the Alliance couldn’t legitimately claim standing through the single pseudonymous member mentioned in its complaint, a person identified as “Member A” who said she would apply for the scholarship but for her non-minority race.

But that’s a misinterpretation of case law, Darrow wrote, finding that the alliance doesn’t need to identify Member A by her legal name in order to advance her allegations.

The Minority Teachers of Illinois Scholarship Program was established in 1991 and is open to students from racial minority groups who are pursuing careers in education.

The Alliance, an anti-DEI group, sued the state over the program last year. The group has brought other claims in Illinois, including a suit against the American Bar Association and a challenge to a state law involving disclosure of demographic data for nonprofits.

American Alliance for Equal Rights is represented by Pacific Legal Foundation. The state defendants are represented by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

The case is Am. All. for Equal Rights v. Pritzker, C.D. Ill., No. 3:24-cv-03299, motion to dismiss denied 8/5/25.