The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy’s (IMSA) diversity office helped organize a graduation ceremony for black students, which included $640 in custom sashes and up to $1,200 for a graduation lunch, according to emails obtained by Defending Education through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The event was separate from IMSA’s general commencement ceremony and was for black seniors only, although the promotional flyer indicated that guests could attend.
The records show planning for the black graduation was underway by January 29, 2026, when an organizer asked IMSA’s director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Title IX coordinator to provide an approximate number of black students so that graduation stoles could be ordered.
“For the Black Graduation, we’re thinking of the last Wednesday in May again, if possible,” the organizer wrote. “Could you share approximately how many Black students there are to order stoles?”
The diversity director responded that the Black Student Union hoped to connect with the recipients to discuss details and asked to be informed of the date “ASAP” so that she could schedule a room.
An invoice dated March 27 shows an order for 12 “Black Sarape Sash with Yellow Gold custom embroidery” items at $50 each. The $600 subtotal, combined with $40 in shipping, brought the total to $640.
A promotional flyer invited attendees to “celebrate the class of 2026 at their Black graduation.” It advertised dinner, required formal attire, and identified the IMSA Black Alumni Association as the event’s sponsor and funder.
Emails indicate that the Cherry Endowment and a retention account in the IMSA Fund were considered as sources for covering the expenses. In an April 15 message, an IMSA employee wrote that the Cherry Endowment would cover the $640 sash order and as much as $1,200 for the graduation lunch. The combined amount was as much as $1,840.
The diversity director also asked if the sash purchase could be made directly using a “Multicultural Retention Undesignated” account. Another email discussed having someone pay with a personal card and seek reimbursement through a retention account in the IMSA Fund.
The records reflect several possible dates for the ceremony. A March 26 email said the Black Alumni Association graduation would be held Wednesday, May 20, with the time still to be determined but most likely 7:00 p.m. The flyer listed Monday, May 18, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., while an April 6 email said the Latino Student Graduation was scheduled for May 19.
Students raised concerns on March 31 that the Black graduation conflicted with the school’s Senior Sunset event.
“After reading the prom informational email from today, we realize that Black graduation runs into the same time as Senior Sunset,” a student wrote. “We don’t want the Black seniors to miss out on this event.”
The student asked whether anything could be done about the conflict and copied the diversity director and representatives of the Black Alumni Association. Defending Education’s account of the records states that the diversity office helped reschedule the event because of the conflict.
“American parents are tired of DEI and race obsession in K-12 schools,” Paul Runko, senior director of strategic initiatives at Defending Education, told Breitbart News. “They expect schools that honor the successes of every student, and taxpayers expect their hard-earned money to support public education focused on honoring academic excellence and ideological neutrality, even in the last celebrations of a student’s academic journey.”
Defending Education, then known as Parents Defending Education, filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in February 2024 alleging that IMSA discriminated on the basis of race and sex through its Brotherhood Sister Circle affinity group. The complaint, which was ultimately dismissed during the Biden administration, alleged that membership and access to some programs were restricted to black and Latino students, with certain activities further divided by sex. It cited emails indicating that retreat invitations were sent only to black and Latino students and that yearbook photographers covering the full event were expected to be black or Latino. Flyers described the gathering as an “event for Black and Latinx students,” while the programming included academic resources, mentorship, networking, separate sessions for “men of color” and “women of color,” and access to tutors and mentors. Defending Education argued that the race-based restrictions violated Title VI and the Equal Protection Clause and that the sex-based restrictions raised concerns under Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause.
In December 2023, IMSA students staged a sit-in and walkout over grievances related to diversity, equity, and inclusion and demanded concrete consequences following bias-incident reports. Their demands included detention, removal from leadership positions, suspension, expulsion, and notification of parents and potential future colleges. Students also sought consequences for faculty and staff, regular reports from the diversity office, participation by students from marginalized communities in DEI training, prioritizing the hiring of diverse and supportive individuals for student-facing staff and faculty positions, and greater administrative responsibility and accountability for addressing racism and discrimination. IMSA’s bias-reporting materials said interactions among members of the school community were expected to be free from bias, prejudice, discrimination, and harassment, and its anonymous reporting form included categories such as race, color, gender, ability, weight, political affiliation, and microaggressions.
