(The Center Square) – Virginia Commonwealth University closed its diversity office – the Division of Inclusive Excellence – in late March, while schools across the nation likewise respond to federal activity seeking to put an end to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Virginia Commonwealth University “is committed to providing every student an education that is free from discrimination and grounded in merit,” a resolution regarding diversity, equity and inclusion stated.
The resolution also said the university “highly values diversity, including diversity of thought and experience, and fosters an inclusive environment, encouraging a culture of opportunity for all.”
According to the resolution, Virginia Commonwealth’s diversity office was closed in response to a Jan. 21 executive order, the U.S. Department of Education’s Feb. 14 Dear Colleague letter, and an FAQ that followed the letter.
The Jan. 21 executive order entitled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” calls for the end of DEI preferences and discrimination, while the Dear Colleague letter stated that race-based decisions in education are unlawful.
When reached for comment, VCU associate vice president for public relations Michael Porter referred The Center Square to a school message concerning the changes laid out in the resolution.
U.S. colleges and universities have been responding to the Jan. 21 executive order and the Dear Colleague letter, as well as Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order entitled “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.“
The order calls for the “termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.“
In addition to Virginia Commonwealth, Ohio State University, the University of Virginia, the University of Kentucky, the University of Michigan, and Case Western Reserve have announced the dissolution of their respective diversity and inclusion offices, The Center Square previously reported.
When reached again, none of the schools had any updates concerning their responses to Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order.
The University of Cincinnati, the University of Arizona, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Washington, the University of California, Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education, Brown University, Cornell and the University of Wisconsin–Madison are all evaluating, reviewing, or monitoring Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order, The Center Square previously reported, with no updates to their responses when reached again.
The University of Washington Medicine spokeswoman Susan Gregg told The Center Square, “we have no comment on this topic at this time,” when asked for the school’s response to the Jan. 20 executive order.
Gregg had previously told The Center Square that UW Medicine is continuing with its normal operations – operations that would presumably involve DEI.
Michigan State University had no update for The Center Square to its previous comment that it “feels confident [it is] continuing to operate within federal and state laws” as it regards its manner of educating and hiring.
The Center Square previously reported that Columbia University recently removed DEI language from parts of its website and took down some DEI-related web pages.
Columbia did not respond when asked for updates on its response to the executive order.
When asked for their individual responses to the Jan. 20 executive order, the University of Maryland, UC Irvine School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, and NYU each previously told The Center Square they had no comment, while Emory University “declined to participate.”
UC Irvine SOM previously said it may have more information “as we learn more,” but did not provide any more information when reached again.
The following schools have not yet provided comment after repeated requests concerning each of their responses to the executive order:
- Harvard
- Stanford
- Duke
- Yale
- Penn
- Northwestern University
- The University of Chicago
- Boston University
- Mayo Clinic School of Medicine
- UC San Diego
- Indiana University
- University of Pittsburgh
- Community College of Allegheny County
- University of Florida
- Florida State University
- East Carolina University
- University of Cincinnati
- Louisiana State University
- University of Mississippi
- University of Minnesota
- Georgia Tech
- Georgia State University
- Rutgers University
- George Mason University
- Oregon State University
- University of Alabama
- Texas A&M University
- University of Texas at Austin
- Purdue University
- College of William and Mary
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- University of Colorado Boulder
- Temple University
