Universities Play Hide and Seek with DEI

Universities are getting creative to keep their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs running despite federal pushback. Some schools are openly defiant, while others are sneaky, renaming their DEI offices to avoid scrutiny. A few are genuinely trying to comply with new rules. One activist, Nicole Neily, sees three types of schools. First, there are the bold ones, like Princeton and Harvard, that openly resist changes. Second, there are the sneaky ones, which are the most common. They rebrand DEI offices with new names like "belonging departments" but keep doing the same thing. Third, there are the schools that are actually trying to follow the new rules. Neily recently heard DEI advocates say they think the government only cares about big schools like Harvard and can't sue everyone. She finds this attitude troubling and thinks these schools are the real problem. She believes the government should focus on uncovering hidden DEI efforts, not just going after the most obvious cases. Neily's group, Defending Education, sent a letter to all 50 states asking for a thorough check of K-12 laws to make sure schools aren't finding loopholes to keep DEI programs. She thinks fighting DEI needs effort from all levels of government and that schools should take responsibility for their policies. Neily is hopeful that DEI is losing popularity. Many people are questioning the value of college, especially with rising costs and fewer international students. She believes this could lead to big changes in higher education, with some schools even closing. Students are choosing schools that don't push "woke" ideologies, especially in the South. Some Southern states are even creating their own accreditation bodies to avoid "woke" influences.