Some Schools Act After Trump’s D.E.I. Orders. Others Say They’ll Resist.

Students at public universities in North Carolina will no longer be required to take diversity, equity, and inclusion (D.E.I.) courses as part of their graduation requirements.https://svtoday.org/

The University of Akron, citing shifting state and federal guidelines, has announced that it will no longer host its long-standing “Rethinking Race” forum, a program held annually for over two decades.

At the University of Colorado, the main D.E.I. webpage has been removed and replaced with a new page dedicated to an Office of Collaboration.

Across the nation, numerous universities and colleges are revising their programming and updating their websites in response to President Trump’s expanding efforts to challenge diversity and inclusion initiatives. However, the full implications and legality of his executive orders remain uncertain.

In the meantime, some institutions are taking a wait-and-see approach.

“This is designed to create confusion in higher education, and it has succeeded,” said Todd Wolfson, president of the American Association of University Professors, referring to President Trump’s actions to eliminate D.E.I. programs on campuses. “The responses are varied.”

Trump has signed multiple executive orders aimed at eliminating diversity programs within the federal government, educational institutions, and private companies. These orders are sweeping in nature, demanding that agencies and educational institutions eliminate D.E.I. offices, positions, action plans, grants, and contracts. One order prohibits “gender ideology and discriminatory equity ideology” and threatens to withhold federal funding from schools that do not prioritize “patriotic” education.

Several of these orders have already been challenged in court, and the extent to which the government will target institutions it believes are using “illegal” preferences based on race or sex remains unclear. With no confirmed Education Secretary yet, Linda McMahon, the nominee, is set to appear before the Senate on Thursday.

Administrators at K-12 schools, which are less financially reliant on federal funding, are taking their own approach to the changes. However, higher education institutions face hundreds of millions in funding at risk. University leaders are debating whether to freeze existing programs, resist on principle, or avoid drawing attention while waiting for the courts to rule on the executive orders.

For instance, at Princeton University, President Christopher Eisgruber advised the community to “Keep Calm and Carry On” until the legal status of the executive orders becomes clearer.

Meanwhile, Princeton’s athletics department updated its transgender athlete participation policy to align with new NCAA regulations, which were altered due to Trump’s executive order restricting transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports. Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania also removed references to transgender inclusion from their athletics pages.

The University of Akron stated that its decision to end the “Rethinking Race” forum was also influenced by declining attendance and enthusiasm, though the university pledged to continue hosting Black History Month programs.

The American Association of University Professors has joined several organizations in suing the Trump administration in federal court to block two executive orders related to diversity and inclusion.

The lawsuit claims that the executive orders violate the due process clause of the Constitution by failing to define key terms such as “D.E.I.,” “equity,” and “illegal D.E.I.A.” The plaintiffs argue that these orders also infringe on free speech and the separation of powers.

However, the lack of clarity surrounding what constitutes diversity, equity, and inclusion has prompted some universities to take an expansive view in their efforts to comply with the new directives.

At the University of North Carolina in Asheville, certain courses had been labeled as “diversity intensive,” meaning they counted toward a diversity graduation requirement. Courses such as Appalachian Literature, Global Business, Developmental Psychology, and Cultural Anthropology will still be available, but they will no longer be part of the graduation requirement, said university spokesman Brian Hart.

Andy Wallace, spokesman for the North Carolina university system, noted that the system was evaluating the new federal policies to ensure continued funding. “This doesn’t affect course content,” he said. “It only suspends the requirement for D.E.I.-focused courses as a condition for graduation.”

Beth Moracco, chair of the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, expressed concern about the broader impact of such directives.

“My worry is that these kinds of memos and orders will stifle classroom discussions and hinder the development of new courses by faculty,” she said, “even if they don’t immediately eliminate courses.”

At Michigan State, administrators initially canceled a Lunar New Year lunch, but later apologized and rescheduled the event after receiving backlash. Emails from the university, shared by Bridge Michigan, revealed that the College of Communication Arts and Sciences made the decision without consulting the broader university. About 70 attendees showed up at the rescheduled event.

Trump’s executive orders follow a long-standing push by state Republicans to scale back diversity programs. Twelve states, including Texas and Florida, have passed laws targeting D.E.I., with additional legislation introduced in over a dozen other states.

Over 240 colleges in 36 states have already cut back on certain aspects of their diversity programs, such as eliminating diversity offices or race-based affinity groups, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, which has been tracking changes since January 2023.

Most of these changes took place before Trump’s recent orders, and it remains unclear what long-term effects these actions will have on higher education, especially in K-12 school districts.

Thus far, public K-12 schools have been slower to implement changes. School districts are less reliant on federal funds, with 90% of their budget coming from state and local taxes, and they have traditionally enjoyed significant autonomy over curriculum and policies.

The Trump administration has initiated investigations into two K-12 districts—Denver Public Schools and Ithaca City School District in New York. Denver is being investigated for converting a girls’ bathroom into a nonbinary bathroom, while Ithaca is under scrutiny for hosting conferences aimed at students of color, some of which may have excluded white students.

Despite the scrutiny, Denver continues to offer a comprehensive “LGBTQ+ Tool Kit” to guide educators in supporting gender-questioning students, while Ithaca maintains its “anti-marginalization” curriculum, which focuses on anti-racism.

Ithaca City Schools did not respond to interview requests.

A spokesperson for Denver Public Schools stated that the district was awaiting further federal guidance before making any final decisions on policy changes, but emphasized that the district remains committed to providing a safe and inclusive learning environment for all students.

Some Democratic education leaders have made it clear that they will not alter their practices in response to Trump’s orders. Tony Thurmond, California’s state superintendent of schools, stated that “California law remains unaffected by recent changes to federal policy” on issues related to gender and sexual orientation.

In New York, the state education department denounced Trump’s actions, calling them “ineffective” and “antithetical” to the long-standing goals of federal education policy, which has historically protected racial minorities, sexual minorities, students with disabilities, and other marginalized groups.

“We condemn the intolerant rhetoric of these orders,” said the state agency. “Our children cannot thrive in an environment of chaos; they need steady, stable leadership, and that’s what we will continue to provide.”

Perhaps the most noticeable impact of these orders has been within the schools directly managed by the federal government: those for children living on military bases and the military academies.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has declared that official observances of events like Black History Month are no longer allowed in military-run schools. The Department of Defense has also eliminated certain student clubs, restricted options for students to use bathrooms aligning with their gender identity, and is reviewing its library collections for books related to diversity.

At West Point, the U.S. Military Academy disbanded 12 student affinity groups while reviewing their compliance with the administration’s D.E.I. directives.

Paulette Granberry Russell, president of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, which is also suing the Trump administration, said these policies would likely have a chilling effect, even though the orders are ambiguous.

“That chilling effect is spreading across all institutions, regardless of political leanings,” she said. “No institution wants to be targeted.”