The Inkwell has confirmed that Georgia Southern has received a letter from The Dept. of Education’s Office for Civil Rights demanding that the university, along with educational institutions across the nation, must remove diversity initiatives by Feb. 28 or risk losing federal funding.
The letter, referred to as the “Dear Colleague” letter, states “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.
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.”
The letter claims that DEI “frequently preference certain racial groups and teach students that certain racial groups bear unique moral burdens that others do not” and using race as a factor in rewarding any educational opportunity, including college admission, scholarships, financial aid and other various academic prospects “violates the law”.
The letter did not specifically state what DEI includes or what programs may be affected under this order, however.
The letter instructs all educational institutions to, “(1) ensure that their policies and actions comply with existing civil rights law; (2) cease all efforts to circumvent prohibitions on the use of race by relying on proxies or other indirect means to accomplish such ends; and (3) cease all reliance on third-party contractors, clearinghouses, or aggregators that are being used by institutions in an effort to circumvent prohibited uses of race. Institutions that fail to comply with federal civil rights law may, consistent with applicable law, face potential loss of federal funding.”
The letter goes on to say “the Department intends to take appropriate measures to assess compliance with the applicable statutes and regulations based on the understanding embodied in this later beginning no later than the 14 days from today’s date, including anti discrimination requirements that are a condition of receiving federal funding.” The letter was dated Feb. 14.
According to the Georgia Southern website, the university receives federal funding for research and grants. Federal funding also aids students directly via financial aid, federal loans and federal work student study.
The letter references a 2023 Supreme Court ruling, Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, as their legal backing for eliminating DEI programs. This ruling declared that racial preference may not be a factor in college admission decisions, but did not specifically eliminate or challenge DEI programs as a whole.
Although it is not illegal for universities or schools to resist the order, it does put them at risk for losing federal funding, according to the Associated Press. Some schools have already unraveled DEI programs or initiatives, while others refuse to take action.
Several lawsuits have been filed in the U.S. District Court in D.C. by organizations like the American Association of University Professors and the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, according to NPR. The lawsuits state that this order goes against the First and Fifth Amendments, challenging the legality of the order.
We have reached out to Jennifer Wise, Director of University Communications, and Amber Culpepper, Director of Equal Opportunity & Title IX, on Thursday afternoon for comment regarding if and/or how the university intends to respond to the Department of Education’s ultimatum. We have not yet received responses.
