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Subject: Race on Campus: Trump administration amps up DEI-ban directive for colleges
Trump administration tells colleges to get rid of DEI programs or lose federal funding
Photograph of the Education Department’s February 14 “Dear Colleague” letter and a lawsuit brought to block it.The Chronicle
Since you last received this newsletter, the Trump administration’s plan to stamp out all race-conscious policies and programming has further materialized, and seen subsequent challenges. Here’s what’s happened:
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Trump administration tells colleges to get rid of DEI programs or lose federal funding
Photograph of the Education Department’s February 14 “Dear Colleague” letter and a lawsuit brought to block it.The Chronicle
Since you last received this newsletter, the Trump administration’s plan to stamp out all race-conscious policies and programming has further materialized, and seen subsequent challenges. Here’s what’s happened:
Colleges, get rid of all race-conscious programs or risk losing federal funding, Dear Colleague Letter says. Last month the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights sent a Dear Colleague letter stating that the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision ending race-conscious college admissions applied “more broadly”and prohibited institutions from considering race in “hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life.” The letter also listed a wide range of race-related institutional policies and programs that could prompt a federal investigation, and stated that the department would start to evaluate compliance by the end of February. Colleges that didn’t comply with the new guidance by Friday, February 28, could have their federal funding revoked, according to the letter. Our Eric Hoover has the story.
A legal challenge to the new policy. The move to end all race-conscious programs and “discriminatory” history lessons was dubbed an overreach of the Education Department’s authority, in a lawsuit filed days after the department’s letter was published. The lawsuit was filed by the American Federation of Teachers and the American Sociological Association. It’s the first legal challenge to the OCR’s guidance. Read more.
Ed Department issues further guidance for colleges on DEI bans. Still, the Education Department plowed ahead and issued a guidance document describing the Trump administration’s interpretation of Title VI, or the federal law barring discrimination in education based on race, color, and national origin. Among other things, the document states that programs that focus on certain cultures or regions “would not in and of themselves” be illegal if they are open to all students. Graduation ceremonies, housing, scholarships, and other programs that are based on identity likely do run afoul of the Trump administration’s interpretation of Title VI.Get more details.
Last edition’s most-read (listened to) story: For our podcast, College Matters from The Chronicle, Jack Stripling interviewed Nicholas Confessore, a political and investigative reporter at The New York Times and a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine, on his article about how the University of Michigan’s DEI program prompted debate and fueled criticism. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
The orders declared DEI illegal and aimed to put an end to “equity-related grants or contracts.” But the judge’s injunction called them “unconstitutionally vague on their face.”
