Recent attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion have rocked the higher education sector, with the Trump administration ratcheting up the conservative-led fight against those efforts.
President Donald Trump has signed multiple executive orders aimed at eliminating DEI across higher education and other sectors.
More recently, the U.S. Department of Education issued guidance barring colleges from weighing race in any decision-making or promoting diversity efforts. The letter — which used broad language and stirred confusion among colleges — triggered immediate backlash from free speech and faculty groups.
The department gave colleges until Friday to comply or risk losing their federal funding.
Higher education groups have challenged the legality of the directives from both the White House and the Education Department.
A federal judge temporarily blocked major portions of Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders last week. And the American Federation of Teachers, one of the largest unions in the higher education sector, sued the Education Department over its guidance.
But with no clear outcome, the following colleges are stripping down their diversity efforts to avoid endangering their funding.
Ohio State University
Ohio State University said Thursday it will eliminate its DEI offices and programming effective Friday. The state flagship plans to close its Office of Diversity and Inclusion and discontinue services at its Center for Belonging and Social Change less than 24 hours after announcing the change.
The move will result in job cuts, though Ohio State did not specify how many.
“The federal government has signaled its intent to enforce guidance invalidating the use of race in a broad range of educational activities, including by withdrawing federal dollars that are so important to our student, academic and operational success,” Ohio State President Ted Carter wrote in a letter to students and employees.
In addition to federal forces, the university faces anti-DEI efforts from the Ohio Legislature. The Republican-controlled body is weighing a massive higher education bill that would, among other things, ban the state’s public colleges from having DEI offices or taking positions on “controversial” topics, such as climate or immigration policies, DEI, or abortion.
“Here in Ohio, a bill barring DEI is also making its way through the legislature, and the Attorney General of Ohio – our statutory counsel – has advised us that his office concurs with the federal government’s position regarding the use of race in educational activities,” Carter said.
The university’s Office of Academic Affairs will continue to offer the Young Scholars Program and the Morrill Scholarship Program with modified eligibility. The former is currently open to low-income, first generation students, while the latter is open to students “actively engaged in diversity-based leadership, service, and social justice activities,” according to their web pages.
The university will also rename its Office of Institutional Equity as the Office of Civil Rights Compliance “to more accurately reflect its work,” according to Carter.
“Our goal is to ensure that Ohio State continues to be a place where all are welcomed and treated with respect, while following the letter and spirit of the laws and regulations that govern us,” he said.
Ohio State leaders announced earlier this month they were evaluating the university’s roles and DEI work so they could “make changes if state or federal law requires it or if we decide a different approach is in the university’s best interests.”
The cuts to DEI will not reduce current student scholarships or financial aid, Carter said Thursday. Ohio State will offer alternative jobs to affected student employees.
The University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is stuck in limbo — its president announced a complete dissolution of the public institution’s DEI efforts before appearing to walk back the announcement just days later.
On Feb. 21, President Neville Pinto said the university would eliminate all DEI initiatives to comply with one of Trump’s executive orders and the Education Department’s guidance.
“It is untenable to operate as if noncompliance with these directives is an effective option,” Pinto wrote in a community letter. “Given this new landscape, Ohio public and federally supported institutions like ours have little choice but to follow the laws that govern us.”
Pinto said at the time that the University of Cincinnati was reviewing its jobs, programming and projects to eliminate DEI aspects. The institution had also begun removing “references to DEI principles” from its web presence and communications.
“I recognize that these decisions are weighty, and these actions are a departure from decades of established practice within academic communities,” Pinto wrote. “I also continue to ask for your patience and understanding as we do the hard work that will be required to unwind many years of DEI efforts under an extremely compressed timeline.”
The decision sparked multiple days of protests from students, faculty and staff.
According to local news sources, Pinto told protesters at the university’s Feb. 25 board of trustees meeting that all DEI-related programming would continue until final decisions had been made regarding the proposed state legislation and Trump’s executive orders.
The University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania has recently scrubbed references to DEI from its offices, websites and policies, as well as the phrase “affirmative action.”
The Ivy League institution renamed its “Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Policy” to its “Policy on Equal Opportunity.”
A previous version of the policy said “Diversity is prized at Penn as a central component of its mission and helps create an educational and working environment that best supports the University’s commitment to excellence in teaching, research, and scholarship.”
The current version does not reference diversity, instead saying: “The University of Pennsylvania’s special character is reflected in the wide variety of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives of the Penn community.”
The university also retitled its main inclusion website as “Belonging at UPenn,” replacing “Diversity and Inclusion.” Beginning Feb. 22, diversity.upenn.edu redirected to belonging.upenn.edu.
One of the university’s student resource centers, previously known as The Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Programs, is now called the Office of Equal Opportunity Programs.
Several schools and departments within UPenn — including its schools of medicine, design, communications and law — have also removed or replaced references to DEI from their web presences, according to The Daily Pennsylvanian, the university student-led newspaper.
Philadelphia lawmakers met with university leaders this week but two walked out after they took issue with college officials’ explanations on why UPenn had reversed its stance on DEI, according to WHYY.
Ivy Tech Community College
In Indiana, Ivy Tech Community College announced it will close its DEI programs and offices on March 12, following Trump’s executive orders.”
Ivy Tech President Sue Ellspermann said the college relies largely on state and federal funding, citing pending policies at both levels of government when announcing the forthcoming closures, according to a copy of her letter obtained by WTHI.
“While state laws and federal actions are not yet finalized, the College is acting now to protect our federal and state funding so we can ensure uninterrupted services and provide ample time for adjustment in our operations,” she said.
Affected college employees will receive career support services and will be “encouraged to apply for open positions in the College,” according to Ellspermann.
The soon-to-be closed office promotes “cultural and intellectual diversity” and hosts events for cultural heritage months, including for Women’s History Month, Black History Month, LGBTQ+ History Month and Native American Heritage Month, according to Ivy Tech’s website.
The University of Alaska
Regents for the University of Alaska ordered the system to scrub all references to diversity, equity, inclusion “or other associated terms” from its communications and programs, including websites and job titles. The Feb. 21 directive cited Trump’s executive orders against DEI.
The regent vote was nearly unanimous, with the only dissent coming from the board’s student member, Alaska Public Media reported.
In a recent op-ed in the Anchorage Daily News, the leadership of the University of Alaska Faculty Alliance called the regents’ decision “rash and censorious” and noted that the board’s approved meeting agenda did not give the public notice of the anti-DEI motion.
“This unilateral decision undermines our universities’ respective strategic plans that form the foundation for our accreditations,” the chairs wrote. “A decision without public process belittles the dedication and labor of those who openly collaborated to create these plans.”
The alliance also criticized the ban’s broad language, saying it gave regents free reign to expand the list of prohibited words.
The University of Iowa
Amid federal and state pressures, the University of Iowa has eliminated some of its living learning communities — residential programs allowing on-campus students to live in groups based on identity, degree program or common interest.
The university will not offer living learning communities for Black students, Latinx students and LGBTQ+ students during the 2025-2026 academic year, according to its website. University officials confirmed to The Gazette that it will not offer those three living learning communities going forward but declined to comment further.
In July, a new state law will take effect banning Iowa’s three public universities from funding or maintaining DEI offices. And back in 2023, the Iowa Board of Regents — which oversees the universities — ordered them to cut all DEI efforts not required to comply with the law or accreditation standards.
On Feb. 24, the president of the University of Iowa, Barbara Wilson, told lawmakers that the college has complied with their DEI ban.
“We’ve closed offices, we’ve gotten rid of every DEI committee in every department across every college,” she said, according to The Gazette. “We have retained a central office, but we’ve eliminated about 11 positions in that central office, and it’s focused primarily on civil rights, access and opportunity.”
Wilson also said she couldn’t “imagine getting rid of the word diversity” but would do so if directed to by lawmakers.
Des Moines Area Community College
Des Moines Area Community College in Iowa has paused its DEI efforts, including diversity-focused trainings and task forces, according to the Des Moines Register. It also removed information regarding its diversity commission from its website, as of Jan. 27.
Like the University of Iowa, the public college has faced increasing pressure from conservative state lawmakers to roll back diversity efforts.
On Feb. 26, the Iowa House’s higher education committee advanced a bill that would prohibit community colleges from having DEI offices, like their university counterparts. The committee chair acknowledged the state’s community colleges are already complying with the proposed standard but said lawmakers should codify the rule, according to the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Grand View University
Grand View University, in Iowa, canceled its plans for International Women’s Day set for March 8 amid changing federal and state anti-diversity policies, according to Axios. A spokesperson for the private college said Grand View wants to ensure its events aren’t exclusionary.
Iowa lawmakers are also taking aim at private colleges’ DEI efforts.
On Feb. 26, the House’s higher education committee advanced a bill that would ban DEI offices at the state’s private colleges, unless required by federal law or accreditation. If the legislation passes, those that don’t comply could lose access to the Iowa Tuition Grant program, which offers scholarships to students enrolled in private colleges in the state.
