America's college chaos
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Colleges have been a conservative target for years. Under President Trump, it's total warfare on all aspects of higher education — from student life to hiring to athletics.
Why it matters: Universities are scrambling to steel themselves for an onslaught of investigations. Even if some cuts are undone by future administrations or some directives don't hold up in the courts, many colleges are rushing to make changes they won't be able to undo easily.
- "The federal government is coming for higher education," says Jeremy Young, the Freedom to Learn program director for PEN America. "And if you are one of America's 4,000 college presidents, and you stick your neck out, it's going to get cut off."
Driving the news: In a letter to schools last month, the Education Department said they could lose funding if they have policies related to race and diversity. And though the letter doesn't have the force of law, many institutions are acting quickly to comply — with moves big and small.
- Colorado State University is shifting employee roles, tweaking HR policies and scrubbing websites, Axios Denver's Alayna Alvarez reports.
- The University of Pennsylvania has edited websites — or removed them altogether, notes Axios Philadelphia's Mike D'Onofrio. Penn's medical school is looking at cutting programs that help diversify its student body, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
- The Ohio State University is shutting down two campus offices focused on DEI and cutting more than a dozen staff positions. It's renaming the Office of Institutional Equity to the Office of Civil Rights Compliance.
- Several colleges had already started cutting programs, shuttering cultural centers and changing up course catalogs even before Trump took office — either to prepare for the administration's changes, or in response to state-level action.
Zoom out: DEI is making headlines, but the chaos is wider.
- Stanford, MIT, Columbia and Vanderbilt are already freezing hiring or cutting back on the number of Ph.D. students they'll accept as they hear of DOGE's proposed cuts to federal medical research.
- Universities are also working to comply with the NCAA's new ban on trans athletes.
- Many are fielding investigations over former trans athletes that competed on their teams, or responses to pro-Palestinian protests on campus. And the Justice Department is sending an antisemitism task force to several campuses.
Changes are likely to last: "Once a college closes a DEI office, once it shuts down a research program, once it censors a syllabus, these things are not coming back," says Pen America's Young. "The political will is not there to bring them back on a college campus."
What to watch: Some colleges are waiting and seeing which policy changes stick.
- Drexel University is holding off on changes as it monitors the situation, Axios Philadelphia reports.
- Western Michigan University's president told his campus to "please process as usual."
- University of Colorado Boulder Chancellor Justin Schwartz said he'll "only change operations if and when we have to."
