Dozens of Education Department employees were notified Friday that they’d been put on paid administrative leave following President Trump’s executive order to root out diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the federal government. At least some of them received the notices because of their participation in a voluntary session on diversity training, NBC News reported, noting they were encouraged to do so by Trump’s first-term education secretary, Betsy DeVos.
Department staffers sent the memos they’d gotten to their American Federation of Government Employees local union, Politico reported over the weekend. The union subsequently said that attendees of a two-day 2019 training for the department’s “Diversity Change Agent Program” had received the notices.
The “change agents” who participated in the program were supposed to lead DEI training and education in the agency while working to attract and retain talent. The union said DeVos’s goal was to have 400 employees participate, though it’s unclear how many did.
The suspended staffers were told that the “administrative leave is not being done for any disciplinary purpose.” NBC News reported that the affected employees included “a public affairs specialist, civil rights attorneys, program manager analysts, loan regulators and employees working to ensure schools accommodate special needs children with individualized education programs.”
The notices arrived one week after the Education Department rolled out a press release touting its “Action to Eliminate DEI.” That action included putting employees in charge of DEI programs on paid leave and canceling more than $2.6 million in training and service contracts. The department characterized it as “the first step in reorienting the agency toward prioritizing meaningful learning ahead of divisive ideology in our schools.”
Black
people must be discerning about racist attacks on DEI programs while
also acknowledging that “diversity” can be a con that damages Black
politics, just as it was meant to do.
The sight of Al Sharpton
holding a protest at a New York City Costco store is a sure sign that
very problematic politics are being practiced. In this instance,
Sharpton’s theatrics were inspired by the corporations which
discontinued their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs. DEI
has been in conservative crosshairs with conservative think tanks and activists
filing numerous lawsuits claiming that the programs are discriminatory.
The same corporations who joined in the performative DEI programs when
it was convenient have now run for cover. Costco is one of the few who
didn’t and so got the seal of approval from Reverend Al.
Corporate DEI programs came into vogue in 2020 in
the wake of nationwide protest after the police killing of George Floyd.
The fact that both white police and corporate CEOs were “taking a knee”
allegedly in sympathy with protesters should have been a sign that
anything emanating from these gestures was a joke at best and a betrayal
at worst.
According to a 2023 report ,
only 4% of chief diversity officer positions in U.S. corporations were
held by Black people, who also had the lowest average salaries. DEI
mania was a public relations effort intended to stem Black protest while
doing nothing to improve the material conditions of Black workers, even
for those who were involved in this project. The usual hierarchies
remained in place, with white men and women getting the top jobs and the
most money. Also Black people were not the only group subject to DEI
policies, as other “people of color,” women, and the LGBTQ+ community
were also competing for a piece of the questionable action.
In addition to the right wing legal attack, Donald Trump is so obsessed
with ending DEI in the federal government that all employees connected
with such programs were placed on administrative leave after one of his
many executive orders were issued. Federal workers were instructed to report
on their knowledge of any DEI activity that hadn’t been ferreted out.
The Trump administration DEI ban means that agencies are being told not
to even allow for any affinity events or celebrations. Although that
idea might not be bad if it prevented the FBI from claiming to honor Martin Luther KIng , a man they surveilled, harassed, and encouraged to commit suicide. Not to be deterred in the Trumpian witch hunt, the Air Force
briefly deleted information about the Tuskegee Airmen and Women Army
Service Pilots (WASPs) from a basic training curriculum, only to return
the information after public outrage emerged when military heroes,
usually revered, were getting the usual rough treatment meted out to
Black people.
Yet it is difficult to ignore the Trump anti-DEI
frenzy. At its core it is an effort to disappear Black people from
public life altogether under the guise of protecting a white meritocracy
which never existed. However, it would be a mistake to embrace a failed
effort which succeeds only at liberal virtue signalling and creating a
more diverse group of managers to help in running the ruling class machinery.
DEI was a repackaging of affirmative action, a term
which fell into disfavor after years of complaint from aggrieved white
people and which was undone by Supreme Court decisions. Like affirmative
action, it was a calculated response to serious political action,
action which threatened to upend a system in dire need of disrupting and
bringing the justice and the democracy that are so often bragged about
yet that remain so elusive.
As always, Black people are caught between the
proverbial rock and hard place, not wanting to ignore Trumpian antics
while also being wary of any connection with the likes of Al Sharpton.
The confusion about what to do is rampant and mirrors the general sense
of confusion about Black political activity.
When the Target retail outlet ended its DEI
programs there were calls for boycotts. Of course others pointed out
that Target sold products created by Black owned companies
which would be harmed by the absence of Black shoppers. All of the
proposals are well meaning, meant to mitigate harm and to help Black
people in their endeavors. Yet they all miss the point.
The reality of an oppressive system renders such
concerns moot. Racial capitalism may give out a crumb here and another
there, and allow a few Black businesses some space on store shelves. If
nothing else it knows how to preserve itself and to co-opt at opportune
moments. Yet the fundamentals do not change. DEI is of little use. But
by ending it, Trump evokes great fear in a group of people whose
situation is so tenuous that it still clings to the useless and
discredited Democratic Party to protect itself from Trump and his ilk.
It is absolutely necessary to leave the false
comfort of denial that gives the impression Trump is offering some new
danger to Black people. The last thing Black people need is for the CIA
or the State Department to hide their dirty deeds behind King birthday
celebrations or Black History Month events. Black History Month should
be a time when plans for liberation are hatched, making it unattractive
to enemy government agencies to even consider using for propaganda
purposes.
The death of DEI should not be mourned. Its
existence is an affront to Black peoples’ history and valiant struggles.
DEI is just one of many means to keep us compliant and to give
legitimacy to what isn’t legitimate. If Al Sharpton is marching anywhere
the best course of action is to stay very far away.
Margaret Kimberley is the author of Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents . You can support her work on Patreon and also find it on the Twitter , Bluesky , and Telegram platforms. She can be reached via email at [email protected]
For millenia, medical students have taken the Hippocratic Oath, solemnly pledging to prioritize the well-being of patients and “abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous.” But unfortunately, schools such as the University of Connecticut have recently created their own versions of the oath that prioritize politics at the expense of the First Amendment.
In August, UConn required the incoming class of 2028 to pledge allegiance not simply to patient care, but to support diversity, equity, and inclusion. The revised oath, which was finalized in 2022, includes a promise to “actively support policies that promote social justice and specifically work to dismantle policies that perpetuate inequities, exclusion, discrimination and racism.”
This practice is a grave affront to students’ free speech rights. In January, FIRE called the medical school to confirm that the oath is mandatory; an admissions staff member told us it was. We are asking them to confirm this in writing.
As a public university, UConn is strictly bound by the First Amendment and cannot compel students to voice beliefs they do not hold. Public institutions have every right to use educational measures to try to address biases they believe stymie the healthcare system. But forcing students to pledge themselves to DEI policies — or any other ideological construct — with which they may disagree is First Amendment malpractice. This is no different than forcing students to pledge their allegiance to a political figure or the American flag.
When we raised concerns in 2022 about the University of Minnesota Medical School’s oath, which includes affirming that the school is on indigenous land and a vow to fight “white supremacy,” the university confirmed that students were not obligated to recite it.
In the 1943 landmark case West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, the Supreme Court declared that students could not be made to salute the American flag, saying, “if there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.”
Justice Jackson, writing for the majority, emphasized that the First Amendment protects the individual’s “sphere of intellect and spirit” from governmental or institutional control. Just as UConn cannot force its medical students to express support for socialized medicine or vaccination mandates, it cannot compel them to pledge fealty to its preferred set of political principles.
After FIRE criticized the medical school for appearing to force students to profess political views, the university affirmed the oath was not required.
More broadly, these nebulous commitments could become de facto professionalism standards, and students could face punishment for failing to uphold them. (After all, they took an oath.) What, exactly, must a medical student do to “support policies that promote social justice”? If a student disagrees with UConn’s definition of “social justice” or chooses not to promote it in the prescribed way, could she be dismissed for violating her oath?
FIRE has repeatedly seen administrators of professional programs — including medicine, dentistry, law, and mortuary science — deploy ambiguous and arbitrarily defined “professionalism” standards to punish students for otherwise protected speech.
UConn isn’t alone in making such changes to the Hippocratic Oath. Other prestigious medical schools, including those at Harvard, Columbia, Washington University, Pitt Med, and the Icahn School of Medicine, have adopted similar oaths in recent years. However, not all schools compel students to recite such oaths. When we raised concerns in 2022 about the University of Minnesota Medical School’s oath, which includes affirming that the school is on indigenous land and a vow to fight “white supremacy,” the university confirmed that students were not obligated to recite it. That’s the very least UConn could do to make clear that it puts medical education — and the law — ahead of politics.
Lawmakers in Idaho accused Boise State University officials of skirting a statewide ban on diversity, equity and inclusion during a House education committee meeting Tuesday, according to reporting from Idaho Education News.
Republican legislators questioned Boise State president Marlene Tromp about a sociology certificate program in DEI advertised on the university’s website as well as its Institute for Advancing American Values, the latter of which is described as encouraging “respectful dialogue” about “the issues and values that have shaped America and Americans from all walks of life.”
One representative remarked that the institute “sounds like a continuation of DEI under different labels.”
Tromp said the university had “absolutely not moved something under another name” but added that she’d have to investigate the certificate program more closely.
In December, the Idaho State Board of Education passed a resolution prohibiting “central offices, policies, procedures, or initiatives … dedicated to DEI ideology” at public higher ed institutions. Boise State shuttered two of its student equity centers a week before the vote.
A college within Michigan State University canceled a lunch celebrating the Lunar New Year in part because of President Trump’s recent executive orders cracking down on diversity, equity and inclusion in the federal government and elsewhere, the news site Bridge Michigan reported Thursday.
The order, signed last week, doesn’t define DEI but calls on federal agencies to “combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities.” Colleges with endowments valued at $1 billion or more could be investigated for potentially violating the order, under the White House directive. Michigan State has a $4.4 billion endowment.
A handful of colleges have taken down or reworked websites related to DEI since the order, while others have called off events. For instance, a conference at Rutgers University about registered apprenticeships and historically Black colleges and universities was canceled last week following the order. (Rutgers officials say calling off the conference wasn’t a university decision. Rather, it was canceled because the organizers, a group outside the university, received a stop work order from the Department of Labor.)
Michigan State administrators told Bridge Michigan they canceled the lunch, which was scheduled for Jan. 29 and has been held four times before, after Chinese students “expressed concern about an event tied to one racial group.”
The College of Communications Arts and Science was set to host the event. Lauren Gaines, the college’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion director, wrote in an email obtained by Bridge Michigan and the State News student paper that the cancellation was in response to concerns related to Trump’s immigration and DEI executive orders.
“These actions have prompted feelings of uncertainty and hesitation about gathering for events that highlight cultural traditions and communities,” Gaines wrote. “We feel it is important to honor those concerns with sensitivity and care.”
Heidi Hennink-Kaminski, the college’s dean, wrote in a follow-up email obtained by the news outlets that the decision was not “a statement of policy, but rather as an appropriate on-the-ground response given a very short decision window.”
Michigan State officials did not respond to a request for comment by press time but confirmed after publication that staff at the college canceled the event, adding that other Lunar New Year events continue.
The U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday that it is eliminating its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, a move tied to President Donald Trump’s directives to purge DEI from the federal government.
The agency said it has “removed or archived” hundreds of outward-facing documents — including guidance, reports and training materials — that mention DEI. That includes links to resources encouraging educators to incorporate DEI in their classrooms, a department spokesperson said.
The department also put agency employees tasked with leading DEI initiatives on paid leave. A spokesperson declined to comment Friday on how many staff members were placed on leave, citing privacy concerns.
The move comes after Trump signed several executive orders on the first day of his presidency designed to dismantle the Biden administration’s DEI efforts. That includes an order directing all federal agencies to end their DEI programs and positions “under whatever name they appear.”
Additionally, the Education Department dissolved its Diversity & Inclusion Council. The agency has also canceled DEI training and service contracts for staff, totaling more than $2.6 million.
Department officials said they will continue reviewing the agency’s programs to identify other initiatives and groups “that may be advancing a divisive DEI agenda, including programs using coded or imprecise language to disguise their activity.”
The U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday that it is eliminating its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, a move tied to President Donald Trump’s directives to purge DEI from the federal government.
The agency said it has “removed or archived” hundreds of outward-facing documents — including guidance, reports and training materials — that mention DEI. That includes links to resources encouraging educators to incorporate DEI in their classrooms, a department spokesperson said.
The department also put agency employees tasked with leading DEI initiatives on paid leave. A spokesperson declined to comment Friday on how many staff members were placed on leave, citing privacy concerns.
The move comes after Trump signed several executive orders on the first day of his presidency designed to dismantle the Biden administration’s DEI efforts. That includes an order directing all federal agencies to end their DEI programs and positions “under whatever name they appear.”
Additionally, the Education Department dissolved its Diversity & Inclusion Council. The agency has also canceled DEI training and service contracts for staff, totaling more than $2.6 million.
Department officials said they will continue reviewing the agency’s programs to identify other initiatives and groups “that may be advancing a divisive DEI agenda, including programs using coded or imprecise language to disguise their activity.”
