McDonald's Revises Latino Scholarship Program After Legal Challenge

The fast-food chain settles a lawsuit by opening its HACER scholarships to non-Latino applicants while maintaining a focus on contributions to the Latino community.

• McDonald's has settled a lawsuit with the American Alliance for Equal Rights, agreeing to revise its HACER National Scholarships Program to remove ethnicity-based eligibility requirements.
• Previously, the scholarship required applicants to have at least one parent of Hispanic or Latino heritage; it will now evaluate applicants based on their contributions to the Latino community through activities, leadership, and service.
• The HACER program, which has awarded over $33 million in scholarships since 1985, will extend its 2025 application deadline to March 6 to accommodate the updated criteria.
• The lawsuit was filed by a group led by Edward Blum, a prominent opponent of affirmative action, who has also successfully challenged race-conscious college admissions policies in the U.S. Supreme Court.
• McDonald's maintains its commitment to inclusion but has recently scaled back other diversity initiatives, citing legal and political pressures following a 2023 Supreme Court ruling on race-based considerations.

3 Articles

Associated Press Chicago Sun Times