The Kellogg School of Management removed its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Pathway from its online list of offerings for MBA students amid nationwide drawbacks from DEI initiatives following President Donald Trump’s executive orders.
Trump’s Jan. 21 executive order targets higher education institutions, instructing federal institutions to investigate its DEI initiatives at schools — like NU — with endowments of more than $1 billion. Just this week, NU’s Feinberg School of Medicine removed its DEI webpage.
Kellogg students have the option to select majors and pathways to “customize their own intellectual journey,” its website reads. Pathways are not noted on transcripts nor limited to one per student — like all Kellogg pathways, the DEI Pathway was defined as a “travel guide” where courses guide students in a specific area.
A list of pathway options listed online includes entrepreneurship, sustainability, technology management — and, until recently, DEI. However, a separate page detailing specifics of the DEI Pathway remains up elsewhere on Kellogg’s website.
Kellogg debuted the DEI Pathway in Spring Quarter 2021, according to a 2021 news release by Bernard Banks, Kellogg’s associate dean for leadership development and inclusion.
“The first spark for creating the DEI Pathway was generated by our students and some faculty members,” Banks wrote in the news release. “It is important to note that a number of people involved in our degree programs were strongly advocating for this pathway, arguing that it would be a tangible way to show Kellogg’s commitment to growing DEI at Kellogg and in organizations across the world.”
Market demand and changing demographics worldwide also warranted Kellogg’s introduction of a DEI Pathway, according to the release. As a result, organizations need leaders that can leverage diversity effectively, the release continued.
On Friday, the Education Department also threatened federal action unless universities complied with guidance against race consideration within scholarship decisions, hiring processes and acknowledgment in all aspects of campus life. University President Michael Schill emailed the community Wednesday night that the University is grappling with how it will respond to the “unprecedented pace” of executive orders.
Email: melodyxu2027@u.northwestern.edu
X: @_melodyxu
Related Stories:
— NU Feinberg scrubs DEI webpage amid Trump’s executive orders
— U.S. Senate identifies $15 million worth of NSF grants to NU ‘promoting DEI’
— Executive order on DEI compromises resources, materials used at NU
