As public colleges in several Republican-led states grapple with new bans on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, one private institution is making a pitch to their students: If you don’t like what you’re seeing, come here instead.
Colorado College announced plans on Thursday to minimize barriers for transfer students from five states that have passed anti-DEI legislation. The new program, called Healing and Affirming Village and Empowerment Network, or Haven, is open to students from Florida, North Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas. Colorado College is a highly selective institution with about 2,000 students.
Officials expect the program to be small, serving 10 or so students who feel uncomfortable at institutions that are retooling or eliminating resources for specific identity groups, like Black and LGBTQ students. Students who transfer will receive “full credit for transferable coursework” and guaranteed space in campus housing, according to the college.
Transfer students often don’t get the same access to scholarships and grants as first-year students, said Rosalie Rodriguez, Colorado College’s associate vice president for institutional equity and belonging. Under the program, the college says that the transfer students will be considered for all available financial aid and that the goal will be to meet their “full financial need.”
A similar pitch came in the spring from Hampshire College, in Massachusetts. The small college encouraged any students from New College of Florida — a public institution that’s experiencing an ideological overhaul spurred by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis — to transfer to Hampshire and vowed to match their existing tuition costs. Nearly three dozen students did so.
Colorado College decided to create the transfer program this summer after administrators were “taken aback” by the anti-DEI legislation proliferating across the country, Rodriguez said. Her staff — known as the antiracism, diversity, equity, and inclusion team — knew they wanted to “take action.” They were worried about students who had committed to attending college in those states and now felt unsupported.
“You’re thinking, ‘This is no longer a climate I want to find myself in,’” Rodriguez said. “What we really wanted to do was to create some action, some space that would allow students to not have those be barriers for them to find a place that was more fitting for them.”
This move comes as campus DEI centers have shuttered to comply with state legislation targeting diversity programs. In Texas, the University of Houston is preparing to close its LGBTQ Resource Center to comply with the state’s DEI ban, which goes into effect next year. So far, five states have passed laws restricting DEI programs and spending at public colleges, and 40 bills have been introduced across 22 states, according to The Chronicle’s DEI Legislation tracker.
The college will make sure transfer students are connected to identity-based programming and mental-health counseling. Rodriguez said emphasis will be placed on ensuring counselors are “ready and prepared” to address the experiences of students at their previous institution.
Should Colorado College receive a higher demand than anticipated, officials will “reconsider” what they can accommodate, Rodriguez said. The program is open to students of any background who find themselves unsatisfied with the climate of their college.
Colorado College is committed to running the program over the next two years for students in the five states that now have DEI bans on the books.
Rodriguez believes that this is the college’s way of acting on its values, and said that if other institutions feel similarly, they should “think about what they can do to step up” and meet the needs of affected students.
“There is no way 10 spots is going to meet the entire need of students from these states,” she said.
