The Department of Education warned schools in a letter on Friday that they are risking losing federal funding if they continued to take into account the race when making fellowships or recruitment decisions, or as much as it shook it in “all other aspects of its student, academic and the campus of life. “
The announcement gave the institutions 14 days to comply. It was built in an important ruling by the Supreme Court in 2023 that found that the use of admission practices that realize the race in colleges and universities was illegal. But it has surpassed the scope of this decision by informing schools that examination of the race when making staffing or the offer of services to a subset of students would be reasons of punishment.
The letter was the last step in pushing Trump’s administration to remodel the programs aimed at balanceing the field of competition for historically degraded populations as a form of racial discrimination. It also appears to be an extension of President BroadSides Trump has handed over to cleanse the diversity, equality and initiatives by the federal government, which critics have attacked as upholstered racism.
Craig Trainor, Assistant Secretary of the Civil Rights of the Department of Education, said that the relevant programs and scholars “White and Asian students” many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds. ”
“At its core, the test is simple: If an educational institution treats a person differently from one race than another person faces because of this person’s race, the educational institution violates the law,” Mr Trainor writes.
“In simple terms, educational institutions can neither separate nor separate students by race nor distribute benefits or weights based on race,” he said.
On Monday, the section said that it also canceled a grant of $ 600 million that focused on training teachers on “inappropriate and unnecessary issues”, such as the theory of the critical race, the activism of social justice, the anti -rasticism and the ” privilege”.
The warning in the letter applies to any institution receiving federal funding, including K-12 schools. But it could fall harder on higher education institutions.
Sweeping guidance triggered an alarm in academic circles and asked pressing questions about how much he would disturb the campuses.
Many colleges offer scholarships and grants specifically for students with a specific ethnic background or maintain programs, professional societies and fraternities and fraternities on campus adapted to students of specific ethnic inheritance or tribes. In some cases, the decision to finance these programs is not necessary by the University, but by the governments of students or external organizations.
But guidance seemed to touch all these areas and much more, banning schools from “the use of the race in decisions related to imports, recruitment, promotion, compensation, financial assistance, scholarships, awards, awards, awards, awards, awards. Administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies and all other aspects of the life of students, academic and campus. “
Some colleges have already taken precautionary measures to prohibit any clubs or student organizations that could last from the interpretation of the Civil Rights Law by the Department.
This month, West Point immediately moved to dismantle affinity teams 12, such as the National Society of the Black Engineers Club, the Asian-Pacific Forum Association and the Vietnamese-American Housing Association.
Other colleges suspended a ceremony marked by the Lunar New Year, canceled a race forum and ended the degree requirements for students to take lessons that touch the dei to graduate.
The letter on Friday clarified that even graduation ceremonies honoring black students separately from the largest start ceremonies, for example, could be considered discreet.
“In a shameful echo of a darker period in the history of this country,” Mr Trainor wrote, “many American schools and universities even encourage the separation per race in graduation ceremonies and dorms and other facilities.”
Last year, Columbia hosted an alternative ceremony with lectures from pre-Palestinian activists and writers, as the main opening ceremony was canceled in protests of students related to the Gaza war.
Adding confusion for schools, legal experts have pointed out that despite the sweeping nature of the threat of the Department of Education, it has not touched enough areas such as college recruitment or preservation programs targeting certain demographics that can carry or abandon with higher prices others.
Other aspects of the letter have been confident that they would face legal challenges, in particular the guidance on the change in recruitment practices, which did not question the Supreme Court’s ruling on positive action.
Jeff Weimer, a partner in Higher Education Practice at the Law Firm Reed Smith, said the letter asked more questions about schools than it was immediately possible to unfold according to a current understanding of civil rights laws.
“Well, if it’s a group of affinity, for example, for Asian students, who promotes Asian culture and has events focusing on vacations that are important for various Asian cultures and so on – but the organization is open to all students, Regardless of your race or nationality? “Mr. Weimer asked. “Is this prohibited or allowed on the basis of the interpretation of the Supreme Court’s ruling and Title VI and otherwise?”
“There is no clear answer to this question, or any number of different variants in the same question,” he said.
