When state and federal officials told Virginia Commonwealth University to scrub DEI from every corner of campus, the university’s administrators went straight to work. They dissolved the university’s central office for diversity, equity and inclusion and started reviewing the work of DEI employees. They even hired a consultant to check their work.
At the University of Virginia, however, things played out much differently. Its board voted to eliminate the university’s office for DEI, but what the school’s administration did next is unclear. Weeks later, federal officials and conservative alumni accused UVa of making changes too slowly.
UVa President Jim Ryan recently resigned under pressure from Trump administration officials, saying that if he stayed the federal government would slash UVa’s funding and wreak havoc on students and staff.
The contrasting series of events reflects the differing politics that surround the universities and their presidents. The fact that both schools ultimately yielded to President Donald Trump’s administration show the considerable role that each university’s board of visitors played and the power of threatening a school’s federal funding, experts said.
And the continuing argument over DEI highlights the fact that Republicans and Democrats still disagree over the role of DEI and whether it constitutes discrimination.
It all started in January when Trump issued an executive order directing colleges to terminate all discriminatory and illegal preferences. The order accused universities of using DEI as a cover for making decisions based on race and sex.
The federal Department of Education later wrote to universities, saying they had discriminated through admissions, scholarships, hiring, promotions, housing and other aspects of college life. Then in March, Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera told the boards of Virginia’s 15 public universities that they must address DEI by their next board meeting.
VCU dissolved DEI office in contentious vote
VCU responded that month by dissolving its Office of Inclusive Excellence and reassigned its chief diversity officer, Faye Belgrave. The university Board of Visitors approved the decision in a contentious 11-4 vote. School leaders said they would examine departments throughout the university to see how DEI was at play.
In early May, administrators reported back to the board. VCU had eliminated 13 positions, revised a small number of scholarship requirements and discontinued a practice requiring prospective employees to write a diversity statement before they were hired. No employees were fired, the school said; nine took vacant jobs within the university, and four resigned.
VCU is still reviewing the work of other employees. A representative for the university said he had no update to share last week.
UVa, too, said it would eliminate its DEI office. In March, the university Board of Visitors voted unanimously to dissolve the office and move its permissible functions to other departments. Gov. Glenn Youngkin, in a moment of victory, proclaimed “DEI is done at UVa.”
Robert Hardie, the head of UVa’s board at the time, later said the school would expand its scope and remove DEI from all pockets of the university. According to a 2023 report from Ryan, UVa had 55 employees “primarily” in DEI.
What happened after the UVa board vote is unclear. Department of Justice officials and conservative alumni accused Ryan of failing to follow through with the board’s instructions. A representative for the university did not respond to a question about these accusations.
In late June, Ryan resigned, saying that if he stayed, Trump would have withheld hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding, causing hundreds of UVa employees to lose their jobs and students to lose their financial aid or visas.
President, board determine college’s direction
Two significant factors determine the direction a university will go, education and political leaders said — the president and each university’s board of visitors.
Ryan faced criticism for months from a conservative group of alumni called the Jefferson Council, and he put himself in the crosshairs when he joined other college presidents signing a letter denouncing the Trump administration’s “government overreach.”
Further, Ryan’s primary opponents at the Department of Justice, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon and Deputy Assistant Attorney General Gregory W. Brown, are both UVa graduates. Because of the school’s prestige, it can become a political target; for example, Youngkin celebrated UVa’s decision to end DEI but was silent when VCU took the same path.
Michael Rao, president at VCU for 16 years, is among the state’s most tenured leaders in higher education and has developed alliances on both sides of the political aisle. He chooses his words carefully. When asked his opinion in March about the VCU board’s decision to eliminate the school’s DEI office, he said it was essential that VCU follow federal law but that VCU would not stop supporting all its students and employees.
“Our mission does not change,” he said at the time. It appeared to be an effort to appeal to both sides.
Even if a college president wanted to fight for DEI programs, he or she has to answer to their board of visitors — a body whose members are appointed by the governor. Youngkin appointed or reappointed every member of the two boards, and U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, speculated that Ryan might not have had the support of the UVa board.
“University presidents almost have to acquiesce to the will of the board at this point,” said Tyrone Nelson, who was a VCU board member until his term ended June 30. “I don’t see any university across this commonwealth who has Youngkin-appointed members pushing back on Donald Trump.”
Nelson was the loudest dissenting voice on VCU’s board, saying DEI programs are necessary because after centuries of systematic oppression many Black people are still financially distressed and must work harder to succeed.
No matter what some board members felt about the value of DEI programs, some determined that preserving federal funding was paramount. VCU depends on about $450 million each year in federal dollars for research grants, student loans and Pell grants, which pay a portion of tuition of low-income students.
“I believe you fight battles to win the war,” C.J. Sailor, a member of VCU’s board, said in March. “We’re not Harvard. We don’t have Harvard’s budget.”
Added Todd Haymore, whose term as head of the VCU board ended last Monday, “We were honoring our fiduciary responsibility to the university.”
Disagreement on whether DEI equals discrimination
While the fight over DEI continues, Republicans and Democrats can’t agree on what DEI programs actually do and whether they violate the law.
Faculty at both colleges said the point of DEI programs is not to give minority applicants an advantage over White applicants. VCU has never had quotas for hiring specific races or genders, a school leader said. Belgrave, the former chief diversity officer, said in 27 years at VCU, she has never seen a minority applicant hired over a more qualified competitor. Black professors make up 8% of the VCU faculty, and most are in low-level contract positions, suggesting they aren’t given an unfair advantage, she said.
Instead, she added, the point of DEI programs was to make everyone feel included.
But Republicans often say that promoting equity results in discrimination and that keeping DEI programs amounts to violating a 2023 Supreme Court ruling that banned the use of affirmative action at colleges.
“That’s where it’s stuck,” said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond. “I don’t think there’s a clear answer to that.”
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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