(Indianapolis, IN) – Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita says his office is suing the Indiana High School Athletic Association over what he calls a “race-based quota” in its board selection process.
Rokita said the IHSAA is reserving two of its 19 seats on its Board of Directors for “qualified minorities.” He calls that a ‘discriminatory race quota.’
IHSAA declined to change the process in June. Now, the state is seeking a permanent injunction that would require the athletic association to eliminate the practice from its bylaws.
Rokita initially challenged the IHSAA bylaw back in April, arguing that reserving any Board of Directors seats for individuals based solely on their race should be barred and changed before next year. The attorney general’s office says 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.”
“Hoosier students should not be governed by a sports association that picks its leaders based on race,” Rokita said. “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,” he added. “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.”
The IHSAA had not released a statement about the lawsuit as of Friday morning.
(Network Indiana contributed to this story)
