Young America’s Foundation (YAF) filed a complaint Wednesday urging the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to open a formal investigation of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) and apply appropriate remedial actions amid the school’s ongoing violation of students’ rights.
The complaint comes after YAF put ERAU on notice with a demand that the school repeal its ill-conceived totalitarian speech ban and subsequently exposed ERAU’s discriminatory and selective enforcement of the ban to suppress YAF students’ expression while supporting leftists and allowing them essentially free rein.
“With this complaint, YAF is following through on its promise to have our students’ backs whenever their rights come under attack from school administrators,” underscored YAF Chief Communications Officer Spencer Brown. “In this case, YAF is alerting the Trump administration — and urging swift action — to remedy ERAU’s shameful speech policy and pattern of discrimination against conservative students. With his executive orders, President Trump equipped the Office of Civil Rights to investigate and defund educational institutions that violate their students’ rights, a welcome change that YAF applauds and is now eager to take advantage of to root out leftist discrimination at ERAU and other schools nationwide,” Brown added.
Despite being a private institution, ERAU — because it accepts federal funding — is subject to Trump administration policies and certainly not immune from the consequences of its actions.
As outlined in the complaint, ERAU is in violation of multiple executive orders implemented by President Donald Trump, a recent Dear Colleague letter from the Department of Education, Title VI, and Title IX.
ERAU, despite these clear orders from the Trump administration — and a purported ban on expression deemed “political” — has repeatedly blocked YAF activism while allowing leftist students, such as those pushing radical gender ideology, to express themselves freely.
In the complaint, YAF lays bare ERAU’s egregious actions:
1. ERAU’s speech ban blocks all religious speech. ERAU prioritizes so-called secular speech and discriminates against religious students. This violates Title VI, Executive Order No. 14151, Executive Order No. 14173, Executive Order No. 14168, and the Dept. of Ed. Feb. 14, 2025 Dear Colleague Letter.
2. ERAU has banned any show of support for the Jewish State and its citizens. For example, ERAU banned YAF students from creating an Israeli flag display and from memorializing Holocaust Remembrance Day:
“While a Holocaust Remembrance Day event could be permissible as a day of significance, we do have some concerns about y’all giving out Israel flags and pro-Israel buttons as those don’t seem directly connected to the day of significance and could be considered political.”
In contrast, ERAU permits pro-gender ideology adherents to display whatever flag they want.
This discriminates against Jewish and religious students. This violates Title VI, Executive Order No. 14151, Executive Order No. 14173, Executive Order No. 14168, and the Dept. of Ed. Feb. 14, 2025 Dear Colleague Letter.
3. ERAU elevated the “Day of Transgender Visibility” to a religious holiday and permitted activists to express themselves on that day, in spite of ERAU’s speech ban. ERAU, however, continues to refuse the YAF chapter’s requests to express themselves. In doing so, ERAU recognizes sex-based distinctions that are not legitimate under law and discriminates on the basis of religion. This violates Title VI, Title IX, Executive Order No. 14151, Executive Order No. 14173, Executive Order No. 14168, and the Dept. of Ed. Feb. 14, 2025 Dear Colleague Letter.
4. ERAU banned the YAF chapter from discussion of biological sex by blocking the chapter’s Biology Basics activism project intended to counter the lie at the heart of transgenderism. In doing so, ERAU recognizes sex-based distinctions that are not legitimate under law, discriminates against traditional students, and blocks the free speech of students who would say there are only two sexes. This violates Title VI, Title IX, Executive Order No. 14151, Executive Order No. 14173, Executive Order No. 14168, and the Dept. of Ed. Feb. 14, 2025 Dear Colleague Letter.
5. ERAU banned the YAF chapter from hosting an event with Chloe Cole. In doing so, ERAU recognizes sex-based distinctions that are not legitimate under law, discriminates against traditional students, and blocks the free speech of students who would say there are only two sexes. This violates Title VI, Title IX, Executive Order No. 14151, Executive Order No. 14173, Executive Order No. 14168, and the Dept. of Ed. Feb. 14, 2025 Dear Colleague Letter.
6. ERAU banned the YAF chapter from advertising an event with Chloe Cole because ERAU is afraid of and/or dislikes Ms. Cole’s ideas which go against dangerous gender ideology. In doing so, ERAU recognizes sex-based distinctions that are not legitimate under law, discriminates against traditional students, and blocks the free speech of students who would say there are only two sexes. This violates Title VI, Title IX, Executive Order No. 14151, Executive Order No. 14173, Executive Order No. 14168, and the Dept. of Ed. Feb. 14, 2025 Dear Colleague Letter.
7. ERAU banned the YAF chapter’s “Funeral for Halloween” activism project lampooning “politically correct” restrictions on costumes that commit “cultural appropriation” This ban is inherently race- and ethnicity-based because it dictates that only people of the “correct” race or ethnicity can speak about that race/ethnicity or the attendant culture. For example, only Mexican people can speak about Mexican culture or only white people can speak about Dutch culture. Thus, in doing so, ERAU discriminates against students based on race/ethnicity. This violates Title VI, Title IX, Executive Order No. 14151, Executive Order No. 14173, and the Dept. of Ed. Feb. 14, 2025 Dear Colleague Letter.
8. ERAU’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion is a DEI program, not even in disguise. It offers resources expressly based on sex/racial characteristics and uses the terminology of radical gender ideology. This violates Title VI, Title IX, Executive Order No. 14151, Executive Order No. 14173, Executive Order No. 14168, and the Dept. of Ed. Feb. 14, 2025 Dear Colleague Letter.
9. ERAU’s counseling services recognize and push transgender ideology, including by recognizing sex-based distinctions that are not legitimate under law. This violates Title IX, Executive Order No. 14151, Executive Order No. 14173, Executive Order No. 14168, and the Dept. of Ed. Feb. 14, 2025 Dear Colleague Letter.
10. In its most recent act of discrimination, ERAU doubled down on its pro-gender ideology position by blocking another YAF event on the topic of biological reality. The administrator who denied the event stated:
“Discussions about the number of genders has been determined to meet our definition of political content. Thus, per current campus policies this event cannot take place in outdoor or other public spaces (including tabling locations).”
This violates Title IX, Executive Order No. 14151, Executive Order No. 14173, Executive Order No. 14168, and the Dept. of Ed. Feb. 14, 2025 Dear Colleague Letter.
As Jonathan Turley recently noted of the shameful state of free expression at the school, “Embry-Riddle is dead wrong in this reported ban of public debates over gender identity. It should immediately reverse this ill-considered, heavy-handed policy.”
View YAF’s full complaint here.
