A recent report from an education watchdog has found that colleges and universities across the nation are still operating diversity, equity, and inclusion offices and programs, despite President Donald Trump’s executive order demanding an end to DEI initiatives among any organizations that receive federal funding.
Defending Education, the higher education arm of Parents Defending Education, published a report this week detailing how nearly 400 colleges and universities in the U.S. still operate DEI offices and programs. Only 16 colleges and universities have shuttered their DEI initiatives.
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The report is “not exhaustive,” but it surveyed colleges and universities in 46 states and the District of Columbia. California had the most schools with DEI programs at 27, followed by New York at 24, Illinois at 17, and Massachusetts at 15. Many universities run multiple DEI initiatives, including offices or programs within specialist or graduate schools. The majority of these projects identified by Defending Education are located within medical schools, nursing schools, and engineering schools.
In comments to The Washington Stand, Family Research Council Senior Fellow for Education Studies Meg Kilgannon said, “It would be naive to think that reforming educational institutions could be accomplished by the stroke of a pen.” She explained, “DEI is rooted in a belief system that is enforced, but more than that, it is accepted and believed. The hearts and minds of people running colleges and universities must change if we want true reform. It will take generations to transform higher education.” Kilgannon added, “Prayer, fasting, and the engagement of Christians in the process is necessary.”
In his executive order on DEI programs, signed on his second day back in the White House, the president wrote that “critical and influential institutions of American society, including … institutions of higher education have adopted and actively use dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-called [DEI] that can violate the civil-rights laws of this Nation.”
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The president added, “Hardworking Americans who deserve a shot at the American Dream should not be stigmatized, demeaned, or shut out of opportunities because of their race or sex.”
The executive order instructed that government agencies purge DEI offices and programs and “enforce our longstanding civil-rights laws and to combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities.” Furthermore, the executive order conditions the issuing of federal grants on recipients, such as universities and colleges, affirming and certifying that they do “not operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws.” The president also ordered agency heads to examine these practices in the private sector and compile a list of those who continue to implement DEI, including “institutions of higher education with endowments over 1 billion dollars,” to be subjected to “potential civil compliance investigations … ”
Originally published by The Washington Stand.
* Original Article:
https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/04/20/nearly-400-colleges-universities-refuse-close-dei-offices/amp/