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The Education Department wants to cut DEI. Can it do that with a reduced staff?
Illustration by The Chronicle; iStock
After layoffs, how can the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights keep up? In the last decade, the number of discrimination complaints has more than doubled, and the department’s Office for Civil Rights is tasked with investigating them. As part of the Trump administration’s effort to eradicate diversity, equity, and inclusion work at colleges, the department is announcing new investigations each week. After last month’s mass layoffs, even supporters of Trump’s agenda say the department may not have the staff required to execute those investigations. Every investigation legally requires due process. Our Jasper Smith has the story.
Trump told Harvard U. to cut DEI or risk federal funding. Harvard is fighting back. As part of its purge of DEI work, this month the Trump administration went after Harvard University directly, demanding that the institution eliminate all its DEI programs, reform admissions and hiring practices, and discipline any student group that violates university rules, “to remain a responsible recipient of federal taxpayer dollars.” Later, Harvard received a five-page letter of demands.
Alan M. Garber, Harvard’s president, said the institution will not change its policies, a striking difference from Columbia University’s reaction to the Trump administration’s demands. Read our Maya Stahl’s story. And our Sarah Brown has the latest on Harvard’s response.
We’ve documented actions taken on college campuses to alter or eliminate jobs, offices, hiring practices, and programs amid pressure to end identity-conscious recruitment and retention of minority staff and students.
