As the Trump administration’s entreaties escalate for federally-funded institutions to strike down diversity, equity and inclusion programs, Northwestern’s School of Education and Social Policy is its latest entity to attempt compliance.
In the past two months, the Trump administration has launched a litany of attacks — including executive orders and agency memoranda — against DEI programs, alleging they constituted race-based discrimination and violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The recent flurry of NU deletions follows two Trump administration executive orders, signed in January, that required educational institutions receiving federal funding to terminate all DEI grants, positions, programs and policies. In a Feb. 14 memo, the Education Department threatened to “assess compliance” with applicable regulations within 14 days.
SESP expunged its prominently-featured “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice” page from its website. The page detailed the school’s commitment to DEI-related research, coursework and civic engagement programs.
“Through research, teaching, partnerships, and one-on-one interactions, we are responsible for creating a culture that respects and reflects the full personhood, identities, and personal experience of each community member,” part of the site once read.
SESP’s DEI page has been replaced by one titled “Our Commitments.” The new page similarly emphasizes intellectual diversity without any explicit mentions of DEI.
For example, one panel which previously read, “We invest in people, programs, partnerships and initiatives that advance the transformative power of diverse perspectives,” now reads, “We support people, programs and partnerships that bring different perspectives together.”
The school has replaced its redirects to DEI programs and research with “Commitments in Action” — linking instead to SESP’s general research and community engagement initiatives.
In addition to SESP, every NU school except The Graduate School has removed DEI pages from their websites.
In a Feb. 19 email, University President Michael Schill acknowledged NU may need to adjust some DEI-related programs while adhering to its core values of welcoming a variety of perspectives.
“As we take actions to protect our University community, we remain committed to making decisions consistent with our core academic values and principles,” Schill wrote in the email. “These include our mission to attract and support exceptional students, faculty and staff from a wide variety of backgrounds, perspectives and geographies who will learn from one another and contribute to research that changes the world.
Email: isaiahsteinberg2027@u.northwestern.edu
X: @IsaiahStei27
Related Stories:
— Three Northwestern schools take down DEI sections on their web pages
— Northwestern Libraries’ website removes DEI mention as University responds to executive orders
— NU Kellogg removes DEI Pathway amid Trump executive orders
