AAUP Helps to Stop Anti-DEI Executive Orders
Last Friday, the national AAUP won a legal battle against President Donald Trump’s effort in two executive orders to roll back diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility nationwide. The AAUP was one of four plaintiffs in a lawsuit brought by Democracy Forward in the US District Court of Maryland. In Friday’s decision, a judge granted a preliminary national injunction against key pieces of the executive orders. 

Our organization is proud to have stood up to unconstitutional threats to federal funding and to basic free speech rights in colleges, universities, and other arenas. AAUP will continue to fight this fight to make this legal pause a permanent one on behalf of all faculty, students, and workers in higher education. Read more about the case here.

We Can Fight the “Dear Colleague” Letter 
Many of you have heard about the “Dear Colleague” letter issued by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights on February 14, 2025, in which the Trump administration threatens federal funding if colleges do not roll back race-based programs and activities. The letter is a sweeping attack on decades-old practices that ensure that everyone on college campuses can thrive and succeed, no matter their background. It targets activities ranging from hiring, admissions, and scholarships to student organizations, graduation ceremonies, and housing. Moreover, the letter sets a dangerous precedent of federal overreach into college curricula, in implying that all teaching about race is itself discriminatory.

As we want to clarify, this “Dear Colleague” letter does not enact new law. Rather, it is an interpretation of existing law, and it is being actively challenged in the courts. Like the Ohio legislature’s overreach in SB 1, this letter demands a vigorous response and defense of existing programs, teaching, and research. And that response is already happening. 

In particular, we want to call attention to this powerful memo authored by several law faculty, “DEI Programs Are Lawful Under Federal Civil Rights Laws and Supreme Court Precedent.” Its specific focus is a January 21st Executive Order, or “J21 EO,” which is closely related to the “Dear Colleague” letter. The memo argues that even by the federal government’s own admission, there is no legal ground for curtailing DEI programs and activities. The memo makes the following four points:

1. The J21 EO itself recognizes the right of institutions to engage in their First Amendment-protected speech, and it does not apply to academic programs or classroom teaching. 
2. Common DEI initiatives are lawful under federal civil rights laws and Supreme Court precedent. 
3. The J21 EO itself concedes that DEI initiatives are not inherently unlawful.
4. The J21 EO is constitutionally suspect because it appears to rest on pernicious stereotypes that presume the intellectual inferiority of women and Black people.

We’re grateful for the forcefulness of point #4. In a twisted logic, the “Dear Colleague” letter compares race-based programs and activities to Jim Crow laws. We find that comparison repulsive and welcome all efforts to shore up true histories and equal rights. 

Colleges and Universities Should Not Obey in Advance
Finally, we are concerned that colleges and universities are rushing to comply with current political will—both state efforts like SB 1 and federal efforts such as the “Dear Colleague” letter—preemptively and unnecessarily. We hope you’ll use the information here to help us fight this anticipatory obedience and that you’ll find ways to speak out in faculty and other spaces.