In a move that legal experts suggest may infringe upon federal race discrimination laws, a Washington, D.C. city government initiative is exclusively hiring graduates from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
The initiative, run by the D.C. Department of Employment Services (DOES), posted 13 job listings in June, stipulating that applicants must be HBCU graduates with a bachelors degree by either December 2024 or May 2025.
These positions, which have not been previously reported, are part of D.C.s Pathways to Public Service program and cover a variety of roles, from park ranger to a Department of Forensic Sciences management analyst.
According to The Washington Free Beacon, legal experts have raised concerns that the HBCU requirement is a veiled attempt by the D.C. government to circumvent race discrimination laws, potentially exposing it to legal action. Gail Heriot, a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, stated, "If a job qualificationlike graduation from an HBCUis chosen because it will tend to result in more people of a particular race being hired, its a violation."
Heriot further noted, "In this case, its hard to imagine why anyone would insist that applicants be graduates of HBCUs if the purpose werent to hire more African Americans."
The Pathways to Public Service program was reportedly designed to "advance workforce equity and diversification," aligning with the District's broader commitment to inclusive economic growth. As of 2023, D.C.s government workforce was 68 percent black, according to U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission data.
A Pew Research Center report published in October revealed that over two-thirds of HBCUs have a student population that is more than 80 percent black.
Jason Torchinsky, a partner at Holtzman Vogel and a former official in the Justice Departments civil rights division, echoed Heriot's concerns, stating that the HBCU hiring qualification could "violate the Supreme Courts SFFA ruling and open the District up to a lawsuit for race discrimination."
Andrew Quinio, an attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation, also suggested that the program "seems unlawful if the requirement that applicants be graduates of an HBCU serves as a proxy for the applicants race."
The Pathways to Public Service program was initially launched in 2024 under the name HBCU Public Service Program, with a budget of $150,000 and was only open to Howard University and University of the District of Columbia graduates.
However, a grant from the Biden Department of Labor tripled the budget to $450,000, enabling the program to accept alumni from all HBCUs. A spokeswoman from the Trump administration's Department of Labor clarified that the grant was intended to fund apprenticeship projects and was not "intended for use to support the Pathways to Public Service Program."
The exclusive hiring initiative comes as D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser appears to be making efforts to placate President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans. Her administration recently painted over "Black Lives Matter Plaza" and pushed to repeal D.C.s "sanctuary city" law in the spring.
Despite these actions, neither DOES nor the Pathways to Public Service Program have responded to requests for comment. The question remains whether the initiative's hiring practices will stand up to legal scrutiny, or if they will indeed be deemed a violation of federal race discrimination laws.
Login