ORANGE, Calif. — Shock waves are rolling through higher education as the Trump administration spearheaded efforts to stamp out Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs in government, business, and academia.
“When I was looking into universities, I knew I wanted to be organizing. I looked into Chapman,” said Chapman University senior Myth Moos.
Moos, the co-president of Students for Justice in Palestine, said students have been organizing and holding rallies on campus to protest the university's dismantling of its DEI programs and putting the provost and vice president of DEI on leave.
“Everything regarding that has been a lot more difficult for universities to serve their purpose. It’s like universities now care a lot more about their bottom line and their finances,” Moos said.
All of this after the Trump administration sent letters to 60 colleges across the nation, including Chapman, warning the schools that they could lose federal funding if they did not do more to prevent alleged antisemitism on campus.
Dr. Theresa Montano is a Chicano and Chicana studies professor at California State University, Northridge.
“Changes to what we once called diversity programs, erasing the idea of diversity and trying quickly to satisfy the Trump administration by finding a more neutral name,” Montano said.
In February, the U.S. Department of Education released a letter stating, “the law is clear: treating students differently on the basis of race to achieve nebulous goals such as diversity, racial balancing, social justice, or equity is illegal...”
But Dr. Montano said DEI goes beyond racial inclusion and diversity.
“It means impact and cuts to children with special needs, impacts and cuts to students. Over 20% of our students in the university system have designated themselves as disabled. Those students are impacted by this program,” Montano said.
In a statement to Spectrum News, a Chapman University spokesperson said:
“Chapman University takes seriously its commitment to its community and its role as an educational institution to act in accordance with its policies and the law, including respecting privacy and confidentiality. Chapman remains committed to supporting all students of all backgrounds.”
Students that Moos said no longer have a safe space to call their own.
“Universities used to exist as a space to educate students and to foster conversations and DEI really helped push that because it gave students of minority backgrounds a space to express themselves and feel comfortable on campus,” Moos said.
Moos said the end goal is to continue to push for reinstating DEI. Chapman University replaced its DEI office with a department called First-Generation and Promising Students.
