Federal DEI Campaign Deadline and Myatt Center Changes Rolled Back

Contributing Writer

Patch Bowen

"Dear Colleague:"

A letter with chilling implications from the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights was sent to universities nationwide as Trump's administration ramps up pressure on DEI initiatives.

According to the letter from the Department of Education's acting assistant secretary, Craig Trainor, all universities that receive federal funds are supposedly mandated to remove diversity, equity, and inclusion programs from their administrative departments. The deadline was Feb. 28, and it now falls on educational institutions to implement what may be sweeping policy changes.

The University of New Haven has yet to respond with official statements. Still, the dissonance is apparent in the Myatt Center for Diversity & Inclusion and its retracted DEI office changes. How can changes happen without warning, yet no one claims responsibility in the administration?

Just five days after the letter reached campus on February 19, the Myatt Center for Diversity and Inclusion's Diversity Peer Educators were instructed to remove "Diversity and Inclusion" from the office's name, drop programs and meetings related to heritage months, race, or other topics under the diversity umbrella, and refer to the student work-study positions as simply "Peer Educators." 

"I think the decision is going to have immediate effects that we can likely predict for certain populations," said Kenneth Notorino-Jeffreys, Myatt assistant director, "but there's going to be many unintended effects that we don't realize we are going to see." 

He said, "Not only am I fearful for how our students of underrepresented communities are going to internalize these decisions that are being made, but also the identities that folks oftentimes don't realize fall within this aspect of "DEI.'”

Much of what students have heard from staff and faculty has come indirectly, and students say that not much has been made directly clear regarding school DEI policies—students who’ve followed the national media coverage of Pres. Trump's executive orders know that the developing administration is set on dismantling equitable practice under civil rights law despite the blockage of the lower courts and Congress. In late January, some semblance of reassurance came from University President Jens Frederiksen and Darby Brown, president of the Undergraduate Student Government Association (USGA), who said in a recent executive officer report, "The University is committed to its students and, as Jens often quotes, 'the human good.’” Brown also said:

"First, many of these directives are regarding corporate businesses, and not much has been explicitly said about higher education. Second, the University is private, so if anything were to come out on the federal level, there is a more substantial possibility it will not affect us because of our status as a private institution.

"[Lastly,] we briefly discussed concerns about budget cuts or related items. I still understand what the business and financial terms mean; however, he and I are working on a date in March/April for him to return to the USGA and speak about that and some other University initiatives. All this is to say, your concerns are heard, and so long as we are still here, we will continue to relay and communicate them to the University Administration."

As reported by the Guardian, US District Judge Adam Abelson recently blocked the federal DEI bans. Thus, it is impossible to predict how the campus could be legally bound or how the nearly 1,000 BIPOCs in the community will be affected.

As of last week, the Myatt returned "for Diversity and Inclusion" to its title, reposted Diversity Peer Educator graphics edited to censor mentions of DEI the previous week, and informed student staff that everything will continue as it has at an administrative level. They're also referencing questions asked to DPEs who requested to remain off-record.

Administrators and students expect the enforcement of anti-DEIAB(Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging) laws to be strict and, as the letter promises, will impact all corners of education. Invoking the legal precedent set by Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (SFFA, 2023), which rescinded affirmative action for higher education admissions, the letter aggressively reasserts the federal government's aims to "eradicate DEI" and so-called "woke ideology" through executive power. 

Students should keep up with the latest reporting on federal actions at Charger Bulletin, Charger Bulletin News, and Horseshoe.

Photo Credits University of New Haven