In a “Dear Colleague” letter issued on February 14, Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the United States Department of Education, warned colleges and universities that they risked losing federal funding if they continued to use race as a factor in a wide range of programs.
“Educational institutions have toxically indoctrinated students with the false premise that the United States is built upon ‘systemic and structural racism’ and advanced discriminatory policies and practices,” Trainor wrote. “Proponents of these discriminatory practices have attempted to further justify them — particularly during the last four years — under the banner of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (“DEI”), smuggling racial stereotypes and explicit race-consciousness into everyday training, programming, and discipline.”
“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,” Trainor continued. “Federal law 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.”
Trainor cites the 2023 Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard that ruled that race could not be considered as a factor in admissions decisions as a justification for outlawing diversity efforts and a wide range of other programs. But that court decision only addressed admission decisions.
“Institutions that fail to comply with federal civil rights law may, consistent with
applicable law, face potential loss of federal funding,” Trainor concluded.
