They arrived on campus with scholarships in hand, welcomed by move-in events tailored to their cultures and mentors who looked like them. Many say they felt, for the first time, that they belonged at a predominantly white institution.
Now, as colleges across the U.S. scale back diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, students of color in an AP report say they’re watching that sense of belonging slowly erode.
The full impact of DEI rollbacks is still unfolding, with colleges responding to mounting federal pressure under President Donald Trump’s administration. But for many students, the cuts already feel personal and isolating.
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“It feels like we’re going back. I don’t know how else to describe it,” said Breeana-Iris Rosario, a junior at the University of Michigan, which is closing its DEI office and discontinuing a campus-wide inclusion plan. “It’s like our voices aren’t being heard.”
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These changes come as Republican-led states, empowered by Trump’s directives, double down on efforts to dismantle DEI programs at public institutions. What began years ago as political rhetoric has escalated into policy mandates and threats to cut federal funding.
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The Trump administration intensified the crackdown with a letter to Harvard University, warning it could lose its nonprofit status if it failed to eliminate DEI efforts “to the satisfaction of the federal government.”
At the University of Michigan, the fallout has already arrived. Orientation events for Latino, Arab, and Asian American students are being cut, along with the LEAD Scholars program, an aid initiative for Black, Latino, and Native American students.
Coming from a low-income part of Detroit, Rosario said winning the scholarship sealed her decision to attend Michigan. She met lifelong friends at Alma, a Latino move-in event. Without those experiences, she fears many Hispanic students will feel lost in the crowd—especially given they represent just 6% of the undergraduate population.
“It would be hard to find my community if I didn’t have access to these resources,” she said.
A February memo from the Education Department ordered schools to purge any use of race in decisions about admissions, hiring, financial aid, housing, or student life. Institutions that fail to comply, it warned, risk losing federal funds.
Since then, dozens of colleges have faced investigations, and Trump’s administration has frozen billions of dollars in aid to Harvard and other schools accused of noncompliance with federal policies on antisemitism and transgender participation in sports.
Michigan was among the first to act on the new directives, setting a precedent that others have followed. Some have rebranded their DEI offices with new names, while others have erased the term altogether. A few are choosing to stand their ground.
At Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, leaders cited the federal orders as they shuttered the DEI office last month.
“It is clear we must be in compliance with them to receive the federal funding that is critical to our present and future,” said university president Eric Kaler in a campus-wide announcement.
READ ALSO: New York defies Trump administration’s order to dismantle DEI programs in public schools
In its place, the university will launch an Office for Campus Enrichment and Engagement, though details remain vague. The school receives roughly $250 million in federal research funding each year, about 16% of its revenue.
Junior Justen Pippens said the DEI office was more than just a building; it was a space where he found mentorship, guidance, and peace. One staff member became so important to him that he came to know her as “Auntie.” It’s still unclear whether that staff or others will transition into the new office.
Case Western also axed Envision Weekend, a welcome event for underrepresented students. For Pippens and other Black students, who comprise 6% of the undergrad population, it’s a painful loss.
“Now,” he said, “we no longer have our central support systems on campus.”
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin praised the University of Virginia’s decision to dissolve its DEI infrastructure, declaring, “DEI is done at the University of Virginia” and hailing a shift to “merit-based opportunity.”
At UVA, student Tyler English said scholarships and graduate programs tailored to minority students are also being eliminated. He noted that a group formerly called Men of Color, Honor and Ambition has been renamed to substitute “color” with “character.”
“For a portion of us, we now question whether our identities and voices are truly valued in this space,” said English, who is part of UVA’s Black Student Alliance.
University spokesperson Brian Coy declined to confirm which programs or scholarships were affected by the DEI policy rollback.
The federal crackdown is facing legal challenges, as critics argue the orders are deliberately vague and leave colleges guessing about what counts as a violation.
Paulette Granberry Russell, president of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, said the ambiguity has handed DEI opponents an outsized victory.
“Those who are advocating against this work are getting a higher return on their investment than they should,” she said.
But for conservative activists like Christopher Rufo, the campaign isn’t over. He’s urging the administration to escalate enforcement using tactics once used to force desegregation in the Civil Rights era.
“DEI is a violation of the Civil Rights Act,” Rufo said on X. “Any publicly funded institution that continues to practice DEI should face a federal investigation, consent decree, termination of funds, and loss of nonprofit status. If that doesn’t work, send in the 101st Airborne.”
In Michigan, much of the university’s DEI strategy was designed to protect diversity in the wake of the state’s 2006 ban on affirmative action. Programs like LEAD were among those efforts.
University officials have declined to provide specifics about the ongoing changes, but a message from President Santa Ono said the institution is exploring other forms of support, including broader scholarships for low-income students.
Current LEAD scholars, including Rosario, received a vague email promising “no adverse financial impact” to their aid packages, but offering little else in the way of clarity.
Rosario said she doesn’t blame the university entirely, but she questions why Michigan moved so quickly to comply while other colleges are resisting.
The first in her family to attend college, she worries about what the future holds for students who look like her.
“They’ve taken away our sense of community,” she said. “It just makes it that much harder for people of color to feel comfortable pursuing higher education.”
