Trump administration argues they violate federal anti-discrimination laws as well as run afoul of Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard precedent
President Donald Trump’s Education Department just issued a major smackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion programs in higher education — declaring that DEI efforts are essentially discriminatory and colleges and universities could lose federal funding if they employ them.
The Office for Civil Rights late Friday issued a “Dear Colleague letter” that argues because DEI programs often discriminate based on race, they violate Title VI. Moreover, the letter argued that the 2023 Supreme Court decision Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard covers more than just banning race-based admissions practices.
“Although SFFA addressed admissions decisions, the Supreme Court’s holding applies more broadly. At its core, the test is simple: If an educational institution treats a person of one race differently than it treats another person because of that person’s race, the educational institution violates the law,” states the letter, penned by Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights.
“Federal law thus prohibits covered entities from using race in decisions pertaining to admissions, 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 states.
“Put simply, educational institutions may neither separate or segregate students based on
race, nor distribute benefits or burdens based on race.”
Many universities offer special graduation ceremonies based on race, special dorm suites and wings based on shared ethnic backgrounds, special programs and scholarships based on race — all of which would be viewed by the Trump administration as a violation of federal law.
DEI programs “frequently preference certain racial groups and teach students that certain racial groups bear unique moral burdens that others do not. Such programs stigmatize students who belong to particular racial groups based on crude racial stereotypes,” the letter states.
“…The Department will no longer tolerate the overt and covert racial discrimination that
has become widespread in this Nation’s educational institutions. The law is clear: treating students differently on the basis of race to achieve nebulous goals such as diversity, racial balancing, social justice, or equity is illegal under controlling Supreme Court precedent.”
The letter threatens to yank federal funds from campuses found to discriminate on the basis of race and “cease all efforts to circumvent prohibitions on the use of race by relying on proxies or other indirect means to accomplish such ends.”
Several have balked at the letter, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Ed in articles published over the weekend.
“This threat to rip away the federal funding our public K-12 schools and colleges receive flies in the face of the law,” Democratic Sen. Patty Murray said in a statement. “While it’s anyone’s guess what falls under the Trump administration’s definition of ‘DEI,’ there is simply no authority or basis for Trump to impose such a mandate.”
Art Coleman, founding partner of EducationCounsel, which advises colleges on admissions, told the Chronicle on Sunday: “There are conceptual nuggets in the letter that I think are right, like the simple premise that the SFFA decision likely extends beyond the contours of an admissions decision. I think it’s undeniably true. But that doesn’t mean that the decision extends in all settings or that the extension is a simplistic cookie cutter, as the letter seems to suggest.”
Brian Rosenberg, former president of Macalester College and visiting professor of education at Harvard, wrote in an email to Inside Higher Ed that the letter was “truly dystopian,” The outlet reported Rosenberg believes that, if enforced, it would upend decades of established programs and initiatives to improve success and access for marginalized students.
“It goes well beyond the Supreme Court ruling on admissions and declares illegal a wide range of common practices,” he wrote. “In my career I’ve never seen language of this kind from any government agency in the United States.”
MORE: Justice Dept. spent $100M pushing DEI in schools
IMAGE: White House
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