BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – Lawmakers are considering a bill that would seek to end certain opportunities for minorities at colleges and universities.
House Bill 1531 would prohibit institutions of higher education from providing scholarships for students based on their race, gender identity, or sex. Bill sponsor Representative Brandon Prichard says scholarships that prioritize certain minority groups are, themselves, biased.
“Affirmative action has been a way to encourage specific social classes or social races, or whatever it might be, to try and get up, quote-unquote, get up, as a race or as a social class,” said Rep. Prichard, R-Bismarck.
The bill received pushback, including from the North Dakota Universities System, who said this bill’s passage would force the state to sacrifice millions of dollars in federal funding by not following certain federal guidelines. The committee didn’t act on the bill on Wednesday.
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