The office of Indiana attorney general Todd Rokita is suing the Indiana High School Athletic Association to stop its board of directors from deploying a “race-based quota” in its board selection process.
According to a news release cited by WXIN in Indianapolis, Rokita announced that the state has filed a lawsuit against IHSAA challenging the association’s policy of reserving two seats on its Board of Directors for “qualified minorities.”
Rokita asserts in the lawsuit that IHSAA should be barred from reserving any Board of Directors seats for individuals based solely on their race, in addition to prohibiting any similar policy from being enacted in the future, arguing that “existing minority-quota provisions violate state law.”
“Hoosier students should not be governed by a sports association that picks its leaders based on race,” Rokita said, per WXIN's Tyler Haughn. “IHSAA’s quota tells kids that skin color, rather than merit, is an appropriate way to judge people. That lesson has no place in Indiana’s education system, and, regardless, the law does not permit it. The IHSAA exists to build character. A racial litmus test for choosing leadership on the IHSAA’s board does the opposite, and after months of delay, the Association left us no choice but to take legal action.”
According to Haughn, the lawsuit contends that two of the IHSAA’s 19 seats reserved for its board of directors are “closed to white men and white women solely because of race.” The attorney general’s office states in the lawsuit that this “express racial classification” is “an abuse of authority conferred by law, a waste of corporate assets, and incompatible with the public purpose for which IHSAA was organized.”
"This conflict between Rokita and IHSAA over this practice stretches back to April 23, when his office initially challenged the bylaw, arguing it should be changed the following year," Haughn reported. "The lawsuit has now been filed after Rokita said additional notices and an executive committee that was held last month led to no changes."
The state seeks a permanent injunction that would require IHSAA to eliminate this practice from its bylaws.
“The IHSAA disagrees with any suggestion that our bylaws violate federal and state civil rights laws or in any way constitute an abuse of its nonprofit status,” IHSAA said in a statement shared with WXIN. “To the contrary, the IHSAA is committed to serving all student-athletes and member schools throughout Indiana. Consistent with that mission, we value broad representation and diverse perspectives among those who help guide and support interscholastic athletics across the state.”
