The Department of Education said Friday that the Trump administration launched an investigation into allegations of racially-based discrimination at three University of California and 49 other universities across the country to banish campus diversity, equity and inclusion programs that say it will inspire schools and hurt white and Asian American students.
The investigation in Berkeley, California, Polyhumboldt, California, and San Bernardino, California comes about a month after publishing memos threatening to cancel federal funds to schools that support Day’s efforts, consider race in campus programming, consider advertising-centric scholarships, and graduate from graduation ceremonies for cultural groups such as Black Radino students.
In addition to the University of California, the survey covers public and private campuses in 40 states and Washington, DC
“Students must be evaluated according to their merits and achievements, not by their skin color,” said a statement from Education Secretary Linda McMahon. “We will not give this commitment.”
The California case and the majority of zeros nationwide said the department has campus on its PhD project. It says it is a New Jersey nonprofit that promotes “promoting workplace diversity by encouraging, mentoring and enhancing preparation for tomorrow’s leadership.”
The Education Department said the nonprofit “provides insight into gaining doctoral students with doctoral degrees and networking opportunities, but limits eligibility based on participants’ race.”
Dan Moogroff, a spokesman for Berkeley, California, said the school “has an unwavering commitment to having a campus that is free from discrimination.” Respond to a complaint or claim through a process set out by the DOE. ”
Amy Bentley Smith, a spokesman for the California State University System, said, “CSU has recently learned research, so we are trying to understand the nature of the claims and work with the Bureau of Investigation’s Civil Rights Office. CSU continues to comply with years of applicable federal and state laws and CSU policies, and does not discriminate or provide preferences based on race, gender, color, ethnicity, or national origin.”
In a statement, a spokeswoman for the PhD project said the application was “open to everyone” as of this year. The spokesman did not answer questions about when the changes occurred.
“For the past 30 years, the PhD project has worked to expand the pool of talent in the workplace by developing business school faculty members that inspire, mentor and support leaders of tomorrow,” said Vivian King, spokesman for the organization. “Our vision is to create a broader talent pipeline for current and future business leaders who are committed to excellence and one another through networking, mentorship and unique events.”
The “University Partners” section of the website lists three California campuses and many others that many others are researching. The website also lists dozens of additional campuses not named in departmental research, including UCLA, USC and Cal State Los Angeles.
Education Department officials did not respond to requests for details of the allegations of discrimination.
Friday’s announcement came from the department’s Civil Rights Office. This is responsible for enforcing the federal anti-discrimination laws.
Hundreds of civil rights lawyers were let go as part of this week’s layoffs for the Department of Popular Education, leading to the closure of regional offices in San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago, Cleveland, Boston, New York and Philadelphia. The San Francisco office had 50 workers who handled most of the California casework. Department officials did not answer questions about whether to investigate California campuses on Friday. The Civil Rights Offices in Seattle, Denver, Kansas City and Washington remain open.
The department also published separate surveys of six universities on allegations of awarding “racial-based scholarships of disallowance,” one that would “manage programs that separate students based on race.”
These universities are: Grand Valley State University. Ithaca University; New England Optometry University; University of Alabama. University of Minnesota Twin City. University of South Florida. The presentation was also named by the University of Tulsa School of Medicine, but no such school of medicine exists.
The department did not designate the seven schools being investigated for alleged racism.
The Action is the first survey since the Trump administration communicated to all U.S. universities and districts a month ago to all U.S. universities and districts in a race to decide on “entry, employment, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, administrative assistance, discipline, graduation, graduation ceremony,” and all other aspects of student, academic and camper life.
The February 14th guidance did not announce any new laws. Instead, it advocated an interpretation of existing laws by the Trump administration.
Schools across the country are rushing to comply by eliminating DEI-related offices and positions and removing DEI languages from their websites. At USC, the university-wide DEI office was closed and merged with the university’s “culture” team. The department has removed the online diversity statement. School of Cinematic Arts has removed a website promoting scholarships for Black and Indigenous students.
On February 28, the education department returned some of its guidance, saying it doesn’t believe all diversity programs are illegal.
“School programming must consider whether members of all races will be prevented from attending by either exclude or blocking a particular race or race from students or by creating a race-based hostile environment for participating students,” the latest guidance states.
Trump said he wanted to close the education department and instruct McMahon to “get out of work” himself, but he told him he needed Congress’ support to close it. Meanwhile, federal education authorities attracted attention on anti-DEI efforts, prevented transgender students from playing on women’s sports teams, investigated anti-Semitism allegations from campus protests on October 7, 2023, and Hamas was hit by attacks against Israeli-Israel war in Gaza.
The federal agency is negotiating with Columbia University after the Trump administration canceled a $400 million federal grant on its handling of pro-Palestinian protests on campus.
Separately, Trump administration officials are calling for Columbia’s foreign students to be deported. This accuses the United States of supporting Hamas and designated terrorist group because of their role in the Palestinian protests. After the famous arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student and Palestinian activist who led the Colombian protest last spring, authorities took part in a campus demonstration and arrested the second person who revoked another student’s visa.
The Education Bureau said Monday that 60 additional campuses are currently investigating potential financial sanctions similar to those imposed on Colombia. It included four UCSs: San Diego, Santa Barbara, Berkeley and Davis, as well as USC, Pomona College, Stanford, Chapman University, Santa Monica College and Sacramento.
The Multiple Task Force on Anti-Semitism is also scheduled to visit 10 US campuses, including USC, UCLA and UC Berkeley, and this month the Department of Justice launched an investigation into “potential patterns” of anti-Semitism discrimination against employees of the University of California system. The task force also called for meetings between Mayor of Los Angeles Karen Bass and mayors of New York, Chicago and Boston “on response to anti-Semitism incidents on school and university campuses.”
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