Tracking state legislation restricting DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) initiatives in US colleges. Bans target DEI offices, mandatory training, diversity statements, and race-conscious admissions.
The PhD Project faces challenges after DEI scrutiny and Trump-era policies. Loss of funding and members threaten its mission to diversify business school faculty amid federal investigations.
Andrew Gillen, a research fellow at the conservative Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom, wrote in a recent paper that “accreditors too often abuse their power as gatekeepers” to federal financial aid, including in areas such as pushing DEI standards.
“Overzealous enforcement could threaten free speech by, for example, indirectly chilling a professor from sharing their positive views of affirmative action policies or leading to investigation of a government grantee for a social media post expressing personal support for DEI initiatives,” the foundation wrote.
