DEI rollbacks hit campus support systems for students of color at U-M

• The retreat from DEI has been building for years, but it has accelerated with President Donald Trump’s threats to cut federal funding
• Michigan was among the first universities to make major DEI rollbacks. Others have followed to avoid federal scrutiny
• U-M students have been told the casualties include orientation events along with the LEAD Scholars program

Campus mentors. Move-in events. Scholarships. Diversity offices that made them feel welcome on predominantly white campuses.

As US colleges pull back on diversity, equity and inclusion practices, students of color say they are starting to lose all of these things and more.

The full scope of campus DEI rollbacks is still emerging as colleges respond to the Trump administration’s orders against diversity practices. But students at some schools said early cuts are chipping away at the sense of community that helped open the door to higher education.

“It feels like we’re going back. I don’t know how else to describe it,” said Breeana-Iris Rosario, a junior at the University of Michigan, which is closing its DEI office and scrapping a campus-wide inclusion plan. “It’s like our voices aren’t being heard.”

Related:

• U-M halts DEI plans as Trump administration takes aim at diversity efforts
• U-M, Grand Valley targeted for civil rights probes by Trump administration
• Facing DEI scrutiny, University of Michigan abandons ‘diversity statements’ in hiring
• Facing deadline to end DEI, Michigan schools ask crucial question: What is DEI?

The retreat from DEI has been building for years, driven by Republican-led states that have ordered public colleges to close DEI offices and eliminate programs. But it has accelerated under President Donald Trump and his threats to cut federal funding.

Trump's administration escalated the battle when it suggested in a letter to Harvard University that the school should lose its nonprofit status for defying federal orders, including a demand to eliminate DEI “to the satisfaction of the federal government.”

At Michigan, students have been told the casualties include orientation events for new Latino, Arab and Asian American students, along with the LEAD Scholars program, a financial aid award for Black, Latino and Native American students.

Coming from a low-income part of Detroit, Rosario said winning the scholarship cemented her decision to attend Michigan. She later met some of her best friends at a move-in event for Latino students called Alma. Losing those programs, she fears, could reinforce a sense of isolation among Hispanic students, who make up 6% of the school's undergraduates.

“It would be hard to find my community if I didn’t have access to these resources," she said.

Colleges respond to federal orders

A February memo from the Education Department directed schools and colleges to eliminate race from any decision-making around hiring, admissions, housing, financial aid and student life. It warned violators could lose access to federal money.

Dozens of universities have since come under investigation, all while the Trump administration freezes billions of dollars at Harvard and other colleges accused of defying orders on campus antisemitism and transgender athletes.

Michigan was among the first to make major DEI rollbacks, and others have followed to avoid federal scrutiny. Others have rebranded DEI offices and scrubbed the term from websites, and others still are standing firm in support of DEI.

The government’s anti-DEI campaign is being challenged in court by opponents who say it offers little clarity on exactly which practices are outlawed, leaving schools to weed out anything that could be construed as DEI.

As a result of the vague directives, "those who are advocating against this work are getting a higher return on their investment than they should,” said Paulette Granberry Russell, president of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education.

Yet opponents are pressing the White House to go further. Christopher Rufo, a conservative strategist who has fought DEI, said the government should root out DEI using tools that forced desegregation during the Civil Rights Movement.

“DEI is a violation of the Civil Rights Act,” Rufo said on X. “Any publicly funded institution that continues to practice DEI should face a federal investigation, consent decree, termination of funds, and loss of nonprofit status. If that doesn’t work, send in the 101st Airborne.”

Some fear diversity setbacks

In Michigan, the rollbacks are targeting programs that aimed to preserve racial diversity after the state banned affirmative action in 2006, including the LEAD program.

University of Michigan officials declined to discuss changes, but a campus message from President Santa Ono said the school will find other ways to support students, including an expansion of scholarships for low-income students.

Rosario and other LEAD scholarship winners received an email saying there would be “no adverse financial impact” to their financial aid, with no further explanation.

Rosario doesn’t entirely blame the university for the cuts, but she wonders why Michigan moved quickly to make changes while some colleges held firm. The first in her family to attend college, she fears what it means for the next generation of students.

“They've taken away our sense of community,” she said. “It just makes it that much harder for people of color to feel comfortable pursuing higher education.”