A University of Texas professor has filed a reverse discrimination lawsuit against rival Texas A&M, claiming its affirmative action policies prevent him from getting a job there because he’s White.
In the class-action suit filed Sept. 10, UT-Austin associate finance professor Richard Lowery argues that Texas A&M University’s hiring policies favoring “underrepresented minority groups” exclude White and Asian men.
On behalf of these groups, his lawsuit asks a federal judge in Houston to declare the university’s “race and sex preferences” to be “patently illegal” under the Civil Rights Act. The complaint cites Title VI and Title IX of the 1964 law, which forbid universities that receive federal funds from favoring one race or gender over another.
“Professor Lowery stands ’able and ready’ to apply for a faculty appointment at Texas A&M University,” the complaint states. “But the racial preferences and set-asides established by Texas A&M prevent [him] from competing with other applicants for these faculty positions on an equal basis.”
Both UT-Austin and Texas A&M are public research universities. With more than 70,000 students, A&M’s campus at College Station has the largest student body of any university in the nation.
Laylan Copelin, vice chancellor of marketing and communications for the Texas A&M University System, said the system’s attorneys will “review the lawsuit, confer with Texas A&M and take appropriate action as warranted.”
“Granted, it’s an unusual job application when Mr. Lowery says in the lawsuit he is ’able and ready’ to apply for a faculty appointment at Texas A&M,” Mr. Copelin said in a statement.
Lawyers from America First Legal, an advocacy group led by former senior members of the Trump administration, are representing Mr. Lowery in court. He has taught at UT-Austin since 2009.
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.
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