FORT COLLINS, Colorado (LifeSiteNews) – Colorado State University (CSU) is continuing its discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies under a different name in violation of federal rules, a pro-Trump watchdog group alleges.
In a February 14 letter, U.S. Department of Education (DOE) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor notified school administrators that, per the US Supreme Court’s 2023 Harvard decision striking down racial preferences in college admissions, “If an educational institution treats a person of one race differently than it treats another person because of that person’s race, the educational institution violates the law. Federal law thus prohibits covered entities from using race in decisions pertaining to admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life.”
“DEI programs, for example, frequently preference certain racial groups and teach students that certain racial groups bear unique moral burdens that others do not,” the letter continued. “Such programs stigmatize students who belong to particular racial groups based on crude racial stereotypes. Consequently, they deny students the ability to participate fully in the life of a school.” Institutions were given 14 days to end their DEI practices.
However, in a June 23 letter to Trainor, America First Legal alleges that CSU “continues to operate such programs under new names designed to hide its actions and evade the clear requirements of Title VI and Department of Education regulations.”
“After the Trump Administration’s Executive Action aimed at ending such illegal discrimination, the University recently redesigned the Office of Inclusive Excellence website to conceal its ongoing use of DEI policies,” the letter argues. “Despite this website update, the policies previously promoted by the Office of Inclusive Excellence remain in place. The likely illegal and discriminatory DEI practices are embedded throughout every part of Colorado State University. For example, in the ‘Faculty Recruitment Toolkit,’ Colorado State explicitly states, ‘[w]hile preparing for a [faculty] search, there are many opportunities to embed best practices for enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).’”
“The Office of Inclusive Excellence also promotes DEI through its affinity networking groups,” the letter continues. “That is, it works to assist certain groups, while not providing similar assistance to other groups. Some of these networks include the ‘LGBTQIA+ Network’ and the ‘Women of Color Network.’ There is no comparable group for straight students or for white male students. The Office of Inclusive Excellence also provides DEI ‘Competencies’ training and Employee DEI Training, as well as hosting an additional Faculty Institute for Inclusive Excellence.”
The letter goes on to identify several scholarships specifically for “diversity,” “underrepresented groups,” and so-called “LGBTQ+” members, which America First Legal says constitute continued discrimination. The group calls on OCR to investigate the school and possibly pull its federal funding.
The complaint follows another report by the the conservative watchdog group Consumers’ Research, which identifies Cleveland Clinic, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Henry Ford Health, Memorial Hermann Health System, and Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital as continuing “woke” policies, including DEI programs and “gender transition” interventions in violation of Trump rule changes.
In late April, federal judges in Maryland, New Hampshire, and the District of Columbia issued temporary injunctions on the Trump administration’s efforts to use the federal purse strings to eliminate DEI. Those roadblocks were lifted the following month on appeal.
