These programs help Black students graduate. A federal complaint claims they’re discriminatory.
A conservative legal group has filed a civil rights complaint against Northern Illinois University for its Black Student Achievement and Black Male Initiative programs.
Phil Lewis
Jan 06, 2025
While serving as director of the student retention program at Northern Illinois University, Donald Bramlett was perturbed by the low graduation rates of Black male students. Black men have the lowest Bachelor's degree completion rate, according to the UNCF.
After discovering that Black men were much more likely to graduate from college when they reached their fifth semester, he founded the Black Male Initiative (BMI) program in 2001 to help improve those numbers.
“I wanted to reach as many of those students as I could to let them know the university has services that would be helpful if they ever needed assistance,” said Bramlett, who started the organization with just five students. “But what I found was that they were the hardest group for me to reach because they just felt like they didn’t need help.”
“Our focus is academics, community service, social initiatives, mentoring and image busting. BMI prepares them to be seen as leaders on campus,” he continued, pointing to the programming and mentorship BMI provides.
The program has done that. Hundreds of Black men have come through BMI, with many crediting the program and Bramlett for their personal success. Known across campus for its chant, “BMI! What is our goal? To graduate!,” a past survey found that BMI's graduation rate for Black males was twice that of the students who weren’t members.
“There’s a conversation about the importance of role models in helping students succeed and closing the achievement gap,” NIU President Lisa Freeman said at a celebration for the program’s 20th anniversary. “At NIU, we haven’t been talking about it; we’ve been doing it for 20 years.”
Now, the legacy of the Black Male Initiative is in jeopardy.
The Black Male Initiative, along with the Black Student Achievement Program (BSAP), are now targets of a federal civil rights complaint filed by the Equal Protection Project, a conservative legal group. The complaint alleges that the two programs, run by NIU’s Center for Black Studies, unlawfully discriminate based on race and sex in violation of the Constitution.
“We make this civil rights complaint against the Northern Illinois University, based in DeKalb, Illinois, a public university, for sponsoring and promoting a program called the Black Student Achievement Program, which discriminates on the basis of race and color, in violation of Title VI and the 14th Amendment, and a program called the Black Male Initiative that discriminates on the basis of race and color, and sex, in violation of Titles VI and IX and the 14th Amendment,” William A. Jacobson, president of the organization, wrote in the complaint.
The Equal Protection Project, which launched in 2023, is an outgrowth of the Legal Insurrection Foundation. The Legal Insurrection Foundation, a Rhode Island-based conservative nonprofit, "fights the threats of critical race theory and diversity, equity, and inclusion, cancel culture,” and more, according to its website.
Jacobson acknowledged that low Black male graduation rates are a “legitimate issue” but said, “the answer cannot be race and sex discrimination.”
BMI and BSAP should “refocus the programs to address the needs of students whose academic records or other personal life experiences reflect a need for extra assistance, but base those assessments on the individuals without regard to race and sex,” Jacobson explained. “Reconfigure the names and terms of the programs to eliminate race- or sex-based eligibility language.”
“Programs which give help to those who need help are lawful, but NIU cannot base that assessment on negative stereotypes that presume all persons of a certain skin color or sex are more in need of help than others, and cannot exclude students based on race and sex,” he continued.
Bramlett, who retired from the university in 2018, pushed back against the claim that BMI is discriminatory.
“BMI is not closed to anybody; it's open. We've had several white students come through,” Bramlett explained. He recalled a white student who joined BMI during his freshman year with his Black friends, and when he graduated, received a BMI graduation stole and certificate. Students of various races have participated in BMI over the years, he said.
“We never turn anybody away because of race, creed, or color. Our organization has never been discriminatory,” he said, sharing a copy of the BMI constitution. “Never.”
T. Ajewole Duckett and Christopher Mitchell, the interim co-directors for the Center for Black Studies, forwarded a request for comment to a university spokesperson. That spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
The complaint against NIU is just one of several the Equal Protection Project has filed in the past months. It most recently lodged a complaint against the University of Rhode Island, claiming its scholarships are discriminatory. The group has filed more than 40 complaints against colleges and universities nationwide.
In response to legal challenges following the SCOTUS decision to ban affirmative action, some schools are shifting away from diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and race and gender-based programming, and in some cases, doing away with them altogether. It is part of the political right’s push to dismantle DEI programming nationwide.
"The reality is that at most college campuses, because of the small percentage of Black students at predominantly white schools, Black men can have a difficult time finding other students who identify like them or who share similar backgrounds and experiences—and that reality can make it difficult to have a sense of belonging at their college,” said Rob Shorette, strategy officer for student success for education equity organization Lumina Foundation.
“If the goal is for higher education to be fair, where all students have an equal chance at succeeding, then we need to acknowledge that not every student is the same and some students will need different support than others to succeed,” he continued.
Alumni can’t imagine Northern Illinois University without these programs.
“I can't think of any negative impact BMI has had on Black males on campus or the campus in general,” said Robert Payne, a tax analyst who was a member of BMI from 2007 to 2011. “You wouldn’t be able to interview anybody on that campus — any organization, any student, any faculty — that would have a negative word to say about BMI.”
“The Black Male Initiative (BMI) at NIU was a game-changer for so many of us,” Glenn Marshall, a news reporter who served on the BMI executive board as a student, said. “It wasn’t just an organization—it was a brotherhood that pushed us to levels we didn’t even know we could reach.”
“Honestly, I don’t think I would’ve made it through college without Don Bramlett and BMI,” Marshall continued. “They didn’t just help me graduate—they helped me grow into the man I am today.”
These programs help Black students graduate. A federal complaint claims they’re discriminatory.
A conservative legal group has filed a civil rights complaint against Northern Illinois University for its Black Student Achievement and Black Male Initiative programs.
Phil Lewis
Jan 06, 2025
While serving as director of the student retention program at Northern Illinois University, Donald Bramlett was perturbed by the low graduation rates of Black male students. Black men have the lowest Bachelor's degree completion rate, according to the UNCF.
After discovering that Black men were much more likely to graduate from college when they reached their fifth semester, he founded the Black Male Initiative (BMI) program in 2001 to help improve those numbers.
“I wanted to reach as many of those students as I could to let them know the university has services that would be helpful if they ever needed assistance,” said Bramlett, who started the organization with just five students. “But what I found was that they were the hardest group for me to reach because they just felt like they didn’t need help.”
“Our focus is academics, community service, social initiatives, mentoring and image busting. BMI prepares them to be seen as leaders on campus,” he continued, pointing to the programming and mentorship BMI provides.
The program has done that. Hundreds of Black men have come through BMI, with many crediting the program and Bramlett for their personal success. Known across campus for its chant, “BMI! What is our goal? To graduate!,” a past survey found that BMI's graduation rate for Black males was twice that of the students who weren’t members.
“There’s a conversation about the importance of role models in helping students succeed and closing the achievement gap,” NIU President Lisa Freeman said at a celebration for the program’s 20th anniversary. “At NIU, we haven’t been talking about it; we’ve been doing it for 20 years.”
Now, the legacy of the Black Male Initiative is in jeopardy.
The Black Male Initiative, along with the Black Student Achievement Program (BSAP), are now targets of a federal civil rights complaint filed by the Equal Protection Project, a conservative legal group. The complaint alleges that the two programs, run by NIU’s Center for Black Studies, unlawfully discriminate based on race and sex in violation of the Constitution.
“We make this civil rights complaint against the Northern Illinois University, based in DeKalb, Illinois, a public university, for sponsoring and promoting a program called the Black Student Achievement Program, which discriminates on the basis of race and color, in violation of Title VI and the 14th Amendment, and a program called the Black Male Initiative that discriminates on the basis of race and color, and sex, in violation of Titles VI and IX and the 14th Amendment,” William A. Jacobson, president of the organization, wrote in the complaint.
The Equal Protection Project, which launched in 2023, is an outgrowth of the Legal Insurrection Foundation. The Legal Insurrection Foundation, a Rhode Island-based conservative nonprofit, "fights the threats of critical race theory and diversity, equity, and inclusion, cancel culture,” and more, according to its website.
Jacobson acknowledged that low Black male graduation rates are a “legitimate issue” but said, “the answer cannot be race and sex discrimination.”
BMI and BSAP should “refocus the programs to address the needs of students whose academic records or other personal life experiences reflect a need for extra assistance, but base those assessments on the individuals without regard to race and sex,” Jacobson explained. “Reconfigure the names and terms of the programs to eliminate race- or sex-based eligibility language.”
“Programs which give help to those who need help are lawful, but NIU cannot base that assessment on negative stereotypes that presume all persons of a certain skin color or sex are more in need of help than others, and cannot exclude students based on race and sex,” he continued.
Bramlett, who retired from the university in 2018, pushed back against the claim that BMI is discriminatory.
“BMI is not closed to anybody; it's open. We've had several white students come through,” Bramlett explained. He recalled a white student who joined BMI during his freshman year with his Black friends, and when he graduated, received a BMI graduation stole and certificate. Students of various races have participated in BMI over the years, he said.
“We never turn anybody away because of race, creed, or color. Our organization has never been discriminatory,” he said, sharing a copy of the BMI constitution. “Never.”
T. Ajewole Duckett and Christopher Mitchell, the interim co-directors for the Center for Black Studies, forwarded a request for comment to a university spokesperson. That spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
The complaint against NIU is just one of several the Equal Protection Project has filed in the past months. It most recently lodged a complaint against the University of Rhode Island, claiming its scholarships are discriminatory. The group has filed more than 40 complaints against colleges and universities nationwide.
In response to legal challenges following the SCOTUS decision to ban affirmative action, some schools are shifting away from diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and race and gender-based programming, and in some cases, doing away with them altogether. It is part of the political right’s push to dismantle DEI programming nationwide.
"The reality is that at most college campuses, because of the small percentage of Black students at predominantly white schools, Black men can have a difficult time finding other students who identify like them or who share similar backgrounds and experiences—and that reality can make it difficult to have a sense of belonging at their college,” said Rob Shorette, strategy officer for student success for education equity organization Lumina Foundation.
“If the goal is for higher education to be fair, where all students have an equal chance at succeeding, then we need to acknowledge that not every student is the same and some students will need different support than others to succeed,” he continued.
Alumni can’t imagine Northern Illinois University without these programs.
“I can't think of any negative impact BMI has had on Black males on campus or the campus in general,” said Robert Payne, a tax analyst who was a member of BMI from 2007 to 2011. “You wouldn’t be able to interview anybody on that campus — any organization, any student, any faculty — that would have a negative word to say about BMI.”
“The Black Male Initiative (BMI) at NIU was a game-changer for so many of us,” Glenn Marshall, a news reporter who served on the BMI executive board as a student, said. “It wasn’t just an organization—it was a brotherhood that pushed us to levels we didn’t even know we could reach.”
“Honestly, I don’t think I would’ve made it through college without Don Bramlett and BMI,” Marshall continued. “They didn’t just help me graduate—they helped me grow into the man I am today.”
These programs help Black students graduate. A federal complaint claims they’re discriminatory.
