Universities across the United States have been given a two-week deadline by the Department of Education to dismantle all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs or risk losing federal funding.
The directive was outlined in a four-page letter dated February 14, 2025, signed by Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor.
The letter referenced the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, emphasizing that the decision not only ended racial preferences in college admissions but also established a broader legal precedent against discrimination based on race, color, and national origin.
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Educational institutions were urged to ensure compliance with civil rights laws, with the letter stating: “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.”
The Department also criticized universities for promoting what it called “racial segregation” through DEI initiatives, including race-based graduation ceremonies, calling such practices a “shameful echo of a darker period in this country’s history.”
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“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 added.
As a result of this directive, scholarship programs designed to support Black students have effectively been outlawed.
Since returning to office, President Donald Trump has aggressively targeted DEI initiatives through executive orders, despite strong opposition. However, he remains steadfast in his efforts to eliminate race-based policies.
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