Anti-Equal Opportunity Activist Ward Connerly Facing Accusations of Financial Misconduct

The New York Times has reported that longtime equal opportunity opponent Ward Connerly is being accused of financial misdeeds by a former colleague.

According to The Times, Jennifer Gratz – who
worked for Connerly at the nonprofit American
Civil Rights Institute (ACRI) – says in a letter sent by her lawyer to the
organization’s board of directors that “there may be some merit to the
allegations of financial impropriety.” Among the issues that Gratz raises are
Connerly’s excessive pay and tax-compliance issues that have been under
investigation by the IRS and California’s Attorney General. Gratz was also the
named plaintiff in a key 2003 Supreme Court
case challenging the use of race in admissions to the University of
Michigan.

As The Leadership Conference has reported, this is not
the first time that Connerly’s business and financial practices have come under
scrutiny. In 2006, members of Congress sent a letter to the IRS urging an investigation
into whether ACRI resources were used for personal income and salary. In
2003, Connerly
admitted that he failed to comply with election finance law and paid fines,
following a complaint filed by the
California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).

The Leadership Conference, which believes in expanding
opportunity, not limiting it, continues to oppose Connerly’s agenda of seeking to eliminate equal opportunity in
public higher education, employment, and contracting. Connerly and cohorts have
most recently introduced an anti-equal opportunity initiative in Oklahoma that
will appear on the November ballot.

Connerly’s long history of opposing equal opportunity
includes pushing for the enactment of California’s Proposition 209,
Washington’s Initiative 200, Michigan’s Proposal 2, Nebraska’s Initiative 424,
and Arizona’s Proposition 107. His efforts,
however, were unsuccessful in Houston and in Colorado
and Florida.

See also: DECODING CONNERLY: Ward Connerly Research Fact Sheet | Download PDF