This message was sent to the McDonald's USA System.

McDonald’s USA,

Earlier this month, we received a lawsuit on our longstanding HACER scholarship program.  

This lawsuit was brought by a nonprofit organization connected to the group that sued Harvard College and the University of North Carolina (UNC) for college admission practices, ultimately leading to the Supreme Court ruling in STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS, INC. v. PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE.

The lawsuit against McDonald’s claims that the HACER program is discriminatory against non-Hispanic/Latino students because of a requirement that applicants for the scholarship have at least one parent of Hispanic/Latino heritage. 

To be clear: we disagree with this claim.

But as we explored the path forward, we focused on two clear goals. First: ensure that applicants for this year’s scholarship funds do not lose out on the opportunity to receive awards that will help them pursue their educational aspirations. There are more than 3,000 students who have completed their application for the HACER scholarship, hoping to receive money to start school this fall.

The second goal: safeguard HACER, which has been a deeply important program that has existed for nearly 40 years and has been instrumental in creating educational opportunities for Hispanic students pursuing higher education. Since its inception, more than $33 million in scholarships have been awarded to more than 17,000 students. More information can be found here. 

A legal challenge would mean this year’s applicants would not have the opportunity to compete for the scholarship funds.

In discussions with franchisees, community leaders and organizations, educational leaders, past recipients of HACER, employees and more, we reached the conclusion that settling this lawsuit and evolving the program is the right thing to do for its recipients.

To achieve this, we will remove the criteria for at least one parent to be of Hispanic/Latino heritage. Instead, applicants must demonstrate their impact and contribution to the Hispanic/Latino community through their activities, leadership, and service.

As we previously shared, the Company, together with Owner/Operators, will also continue to evaluate and evolve all our programs where it makes sense while staying true to our values.

More information about our steadfast commitment to Inclusion can be found here.

For the past 70 years, guided by our values, we’ve evolved our programs to the times and needs of the places we operate. We are resolute in our purpose to feed and foster communities and committed to the people counting on us to deliver.

Santiago Negre

McDonald’s Owner/Operator Chairman, McDonald’s Hispanic Owner-Operator’s Association

Michael Gonda

SVP, Chief Impact Officer, North America 

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