Colorado state Sen. Iman Jodeh (D-SD29) announced a paid internship program at the State Capitol this week that lists religious and ethnic identity among its qualifications, prompting questions about whether the posting violates federal anti-discrimination law.
The flyer, issued under the Middle Eastern, North African, South Asian (MENASA) & Muslim Joint Legislative Caucus, lays out several standard requirements: applicants must be undergraduate students with at least a 3.5 GPA and a schedule flexible enough to work part-time while in school. Selected interns would also receive a $1,000 stipend.
Alongside those criteria, the flyer states that qualified candidates must “Identify as a Muslim and/or as Middle Eastern, North African, or South Asian.”
That language has drawn scrutiny under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars employment discrimination based on religion and national origin. Lawmakers and organizations seeking to encourage applicants from a particular background typically avoid explicit identity mandates, instead using language such as “interest in” or “commitment to” a community, in order to stay within the bounds of state and federal law.
A comparable dispute arose in 2023, when a San Francisco law firm was sued for racial discrimination over a fellowship limited to students from “underrepresented groups,” with race and sexual orientation listed as qualifications on its website. The firm was ultimately required to open the program to all students and revise its language.
The Jodeh internship posting is not the senator’s first with identity-based eligibility rules. In 2023, her office advertised what was billed as the “second annual Arab or Muslim Legislative Internship” for the 2024 legislative session.
Jodeh, elected in 2021, was the first Muslim to hold elected state office in Colorado. As of publication, her office had not withdrawn or revised the internship posting, and it was not clear whether any formal complaint had been filed with civil rights authorities.
