Higher education leaders everywhere are scrambling to understand how recent orders by President Donald Trump’s administration to forego initiatives related to diversity, equity and inclusion impact their institutions. While some institutions are moving slowly to assess their current compliance, other are opting to make swift policy changes.
An executive order during President Trump’s first week in office demanded colleges and universities end all DEI-related mandates, policies and programs. Colleges now face a threat to federal funding if they do not comply, per the civil rights office of the Department of Education.
Amid the unfolding wave of federal policy, colleges and universities are taking different measures to pulse-check the legality of their DEI initiatives. Temple University is bringing in external counsel and the University of Arizona is creating an inventory of DEI-related programs, AZ Central reports. Northwestern University President Michael Schill told the campus community that the school is assessing whether policy changes will be necessary in the coming weeks, according to an email obtained from the school’s student newspaper.
Some colleges and universities leaders who believe they have long established compliance with civil rights law are vexed with the administration’s new interpretation.
“We already do comply with all civil rights laws,” says Sarah Voigt, director of communications for St. Catherine University. “That’s an important distinction when you look at the dear colleague letter. They mention how they are enforcing civil rights laws, which is not a problem for us as we are already in compliance.”
Here are some institutions that have already taken steps to distance themselves from DEI.
Columbia University
Columbia University has removed policy language related to DEI on at least five of its web pages, according to the university’s student newspaper. The pages impacted include:
- Undergraduate Student Life
- Office of the Provost
- School of General Studies
- Faculty of Arts and Sciences
- School of Social Work
More from UB: Test-optional admissions may be hurting disadvantaged students, study says
The Ivy League’s institution’s athletics department also removed its DEI mission statement following Trump’s executive order against transgender athletes in women’s sports.
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania has revamped DEI elements on its main webpage. Now called “Penn Belonging,” the page explains that DEI vocabulary was erased to ensure compliance “with the new federal government guidance and Executive Orders, federal, state, and local law, and our values.”
Like Columbia, UPenn’s athletics division has also removed its mission statement related to DEI.
Colorado State University
Following the Department of Education’s “Dear Colleague Letter,” Colorado State University President Amy Parsons wrote the community that the school would immediately begin to make changes to its websites, staffing and human resources policies and processes. The community letter drove hundreds of students to skip class and protest outside the university’s administration building, CBS reports.
Federal funding makes up about one-third of Colorado State University’s overall budget, according to Parsons’ letter.
University of Colorado
The University of Colorado renamed its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to the Office of Collaboration.
Why these 2 lawsuits may be slowing down university action on DEI
The University of Hawaii, which received $386 million in funding from the federal government last year, is among the many colleges and universities that have yet to take definitive action on DEI policies. The university may be weighing its options while Hawaii’s attorney general and a coalition of 12 states file a lawsuit against President Trump’s DEI orders.
“We condemn discrimination in any form, and we stand in strong opposition to the president’s recent orders and the misleading narrative he has pushed to justify them,” read the plaintiffs’ joint statement.
Another lawsuit filed by the American Association of University Professors, the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education and other groups argues the president has exceeded its authority.
“In the United States, there is no king,” the lawsuit reads. “In his crusade to erase diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility from our country, President Trump cannot usurp Congress’s exclusive power of the purse, nor can he silence those who disagree with him by threatening them with the loss of federal funds and other enforcement actions.”
