# Carlson School *Business school of the University of Minnesota; party to a February 19, 2026 Title VI resolution agreement with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.* The Carlson School of Management is the business school of the [[University of Minnesota]], the public research university whose Twin Cities campus spans [[Minneapolis]] and [[Saint Paul, Minnesota]]. Its formal name is the Curtis L. Carlson School of Management, and it is called Minnesota Carlson or Carlson for short.[^1] It began in 1919 as the University of Minnesota Business School. It took the Carlson name in 1986, after Curtis L. Carlson, who founded the Carlson Companies and chaired its board, gave $25 million.[^1] In the federal-administrative record, the University of Minnesota (Carlson School) is party to a [[Title VI]] matter before the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) concerning the Ph.D. Project. As of the record, its status is a resolution agreement dated February 19, 2026. The Department reported that agreement among those under which colleges and universities ended partnerships with the Ph.D. Project.[^2] The record dates the opening of the OCR matter to March 13, 2025, the date of the Department's release on Title VI investigations of institutions of higher education.[^3] The OCR agreement is one of several federal actions in Minnesota during the same period. On January 14, 2026, the [[United States Department of Justice]] issued release No. 26-21, titled *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*. In that case, Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the suit as a matter of general public importance.[^4] The project's catalogue of U.S.-government "regime" usages finds no other U.S. state so described. That is the project's catalogue finding, not an independently established fact.[^4] The DOJ suit is directed at the State, not at the Carlson School. The record does not connect the two matters beyond their timing. ## Who - **Namesake and donors.** Curtis L. Carlson earned a bachelor's degree from the school in 1937 and gave the 1986 gift that renamed it. He later pledged $10 million toward a new building.[^1] Herb and Bar Hanson opened the campaign for a second building with a $10 million pledge in 2004, and that building carries their name.[^1] - **First dean.** George Dowrie, a Michigan banking specialist, led the school when it opened.[^1] - **Founders of the information-systems field at the school.** In 1968, Gordon Davis, Gary Dickson and Tom Hoffmann started the school's Management Information Systems program and research center.[^1] - **Alumni in public office.** [[C. Elmer Anderson]] earned a BBA from the school in 1931 and a PhD in 1983. He served as Minnesota governor and state senator and as chair and CEO of H.B. Fuller Co.[^1] - **Faculty.** The school's faculty page lists Ian Maitland as a business-ethics professor.[^5] - **Counterparties.** The resolution agreement is between OCR and the University of Minnesota (Carlson School).[^2] - **Catalogue characterization.** The project's claim:link catalogue lists the school as a credentialing source for [[Metropolitan Council (Minnesota)]] senior staff.[^6] The record does not name those staff members or document their credentials. ## What The school awards bachelor's, MBA and doctoral degrees and runs executive-education programs in the United States and abroad.[^1] It offers joint degrees with the university's law, medical, public-health and public-affairs units: the JD/MBA, MD/MBA, MHA/MBA and MPP/MBA. Its specialized master's degrees include human resources and industrial relations, business taxation, accountancy, business analytics, marketing, finance, and supply chain management.[^1] Among its research units are the Carlson Global Institute, the Center for Human Resources and Labor Studies, the Juran Research Center, and the Management Information Systems Research Center.[^1] The OCR matter is recorded as a Title VI proceeding. It ended in a resolution agreement concerning the school's relationship with the Ph.D. Project.[^2] ## When - **1919:** The school is founded as the University of Minnesota Business School.[^1] - **1920:** The university becomes the 18th school accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).[^1] - **1961:** The school launches a Field Projects program. It runs for nearly four decades before being replaced by the Carlson Enterprise programs.[^1] - **1968:** The MIS program and research center open.[^1] - **1986:** The school is renamed for Curtis L. Carlson.[^1] - **1998:** The new Carlson building opens.[^1] - **2004:** The Hansons make their pledge.[^1] - **2006:** The Legislature makes an appropriation (see *How much*).[^1] - **September 25, 2008:** Hanson Hall opens.[^1] - **January 2025:** A presidential action on ending illegal discrimination is issued.[^7] - **March 13, 2025:** The OCR Title VI matter is opened, as dated in the record.[^3] - **January 14, 2026:** DOJ issues release No. 26-21.[^4] - **February 19, 2026:** The resolution agreement is signed.[^2] ## Where The school occupies two buildings on the university's West Bank, on the west side of the [[Mississippi River]]: the Carlson building and Herbert M. Hanson Jr. Hall.[^1] The Robert Sparboe skyway links the two buildings.[^1] ## How much - $25 million: Curtis L. Carlson's 1986 gift.[^1] - $10 million: Carlson's later commitment toward the building that opened in 1998.[^1] - $10 million: the Hansons' 2004 pledge.[^1] - $40 million: the expansion project that included Hanson Hall, which roughly doubled the school's size.[^1] - $26.6 million: funding granted in 2006 by the Minnesota [[Legislature]]. The cached Wikipedia text is cut off before it names the recipient and purpose of this appropriation.[^1] The record does not state any monetary term of the 2026 OCR resolution agreement.[^2] ## How many - **Carlson building:** about 243,000 square feet on five floors, with 33 classrooms, 35 meeting rooms, a 180-seat lecture hall and a 250-seat auditorium.[^1] - **Hanson Hall:** about 124,000 square feet on four floors, with nine classrooms, 22 interview rooms and 10 breakout rooms.[^1] ## In the at-issue record At-issue entry AI-Anoka-070, dated February 19, 2026, sets two items side by side: 1. The UMN Law fellowship removed its race-and-sex eligibility bar after a federal complaint was filed. 2. The Carlson School signed its resolution agreement on February 19, 2026. The entry draws from these the inference that "conduct changes upon exposure — never before it." That inference is the project's characterization.[^7] The second item is supported by the Department of Education's release.[^2] The fellowship item rests on a single source in the entry, from equalprotect.org, which is not among the pack's citable sources. The pack carries no primary document for it. The entry cites as its anchor the January 2025 presidential action *Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity*.[^7] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - The University of Minnesota (Carlson School) is the institution named in the OCR Title VI resolution agreement.[^2] - Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the DOJ suit announced in release No. 26-21.[^4] ### What - The OCR matter is recorded as *University of Minnesota (Carlson School) — The Ph.D. Project Title VI resolution agreement* ([[University of Minnesota (Carlson School) — The Ph.D. Project Title VI resolution agreement]]).[^2] - The project's validated master identifies the DOJ suit as [[United States v. State of Minnesota (0:26-cv-00273)]], which concerns [[§43A.191]]. The master listed the suit as live as of June 18, 2026.[^4] - Among the federal authorities in the project's pinned framing is [[Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services]], 605 U.S. 303 (2025). In that case the Supreme Court held that [[Title VII]]'s disparate-treatment provision "draws no distinctions between majority-group plaintiffs and minority-group plaintiffs." The Court also rejected the Sixth Circuit's heightened "background circumstances" rule for majority-group plaintiffs.[^8] *Ames* construes Title VII. The Carlson matter arose under Title VI. ### When - The OCR matter was opened March 13, 2025, as dated in the record.[^3] - The resolution agreement is dated February 19, 2026.[^2] ### Where - The Carlson School is on the University of Minnesota's West Bank in Minneapolis.[^1] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Carlson School of Management* (revision 1378565521, retrieved 2026-10-27) — name, founding, history, campus, academic programs, centers, alumni, and building and funding figures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlson_School_of_Management [^2]: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, *press release on agreements with colleges and universities to end partnerships with the Ph.D. Project* (date not given in pack) — Title VI resolution agreement with the University of Minnesota (Carlson School), status as of February 19, 2026. https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-educations-office-civil-rights-secures-31-agreements-colleges-and-universities-end-partnerships-phd-project [^3]: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, *press release on Title VI investigations of institutions of higher education* (date not given in pack) — opening of the Title VI matter recorded as filed March 13, 2025. https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/office-civil-rights-initiates-title-vi-investigations-institutions-of-higher-education [^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*, release No. 26-21 (Jan. 14, 2026) — the release title, the filing of the suit, and the Attorney General's certification of general public importance. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime [^5]: University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management, *Ian Maitland* (faculty page) — identifies Maitland as a Carlson School business-ethics professor. https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/faculty/ian-maitland [^6]: University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management, *home page* — the URL that the project's catalogue (T14, row 35) pairs with its characterization of the school; the page does not itself document Metropolitan Council staff credentials. https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/ [^7]: The White House, *Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity* (January 2025) — the presidential action cited as the anchor of at-issue entry AI-Anoka-070. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/ [^8]: Supreme Court of the United States, *Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services*, 605 U.S. 303 (2025) — holding on Title VII's disparate-treatment provision and rejection of the "background circumstances" rule. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1039_c0n2.pdf