The Trump administration’s Department of Education is accusing 45 universities of engaging in racial discrimination, alleging in a memo that their partnership with The Ph.D. Project, a non-profit that helps students from underrepresented groups diversify the business world violates the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
According to CBS News, in February, the Trump administration ordered colleges and universities to end diversity programs, or lose their federal funding.
Lynn Pasquerella, the president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities, told NPR that the administrators at the universities she has been in contact with have told her that they have been in distress over the Department of Education’s approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“They’re feeling beleaguered. They’re feeling overwhelmed,” Pasquerella said. “There’s a deep sense of moral distress.”
Pasquerella continued, saying that the Education Department is intentionally conflating efforts to provide an inclusive learning environment with the violation of civil rights.
“It’s another example of governmental overreach into institutional autonomy, into academic freedom, in ways that go against what’s already established legal precedent,” Pasquerella said.
Two of the largest teachers unions in America, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers have filed their own lawsuits against an earlier memo, which warned universities to end “race-based preferences,” arguing that the earlier memo was unfounded and vague.
The NEA was joined in its opposition to the “Dear Colleague” letter by the American Civil Liberties Union who filed a lawsuit on March 5 arguing that the Department of Education’s letter was a violation of Constitutional rights.
According to NEA President Becky Pringle, “The Trump administration is threatening to punish students, parents and educators in public schools for…fostering inclusive classrooms where diversity is valued [and] history is taught honestly,” Pringle said. “We’re urging the court to block the Department of Education from enforcing this harmful and vague directive and protect students from politically motivated attacks that stifle speech and erase critical lessons.”
Likewise, Anthony D. Romero, the executive director of the ACLU, argued that the letter represents a brazen attempt to intimidate schools into acquiescing to the Trump administration’s beliefs regarding diversity, equity and inclusion.
“It’s clear that the Trump
administration is trying to shut down speech it doesn’t like—especially when it deals with race in our educational institutions,” Romero said. “The Dear Colleague Letter is a brazen attempt to intimidate schools into abandoning lawful efforts to create inclusive learning environments. This is a blatant attack on free speech and academic freedom, aiming to deprive students of a full and honest education. We will not stand by as the Department of Education uses fear and coercion to force schools and educators into self-censorship by threatening to strip federal funding.”According to several university spokespersons, the schools had not been formally notified of complaints related to The Ph.D. Project, but they indicated that the schools would cooperate with any investigation if necessary.
As Lindsey Piercy, the spokesperson for the University of Kentucky, told the Courier-Journal, “We are aware of the release this morning from the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights. We have not received any official notification of this review. We will continue to monitor and review this issue, cooperate with any official inquiries and, as always, comply with the law.”
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