Trump Memo Doubles Down On Anti-DEI Requirements For Federal Funding 

The Trump administration has an alarming obsession with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. While many of their anti-DEI efforts have been focused on higher education, the Justice Department released a memo on Friday detailing what DEI efforts should be banned if universities, private firms, and nonprofits want to avoid losing federal funding. 

According to NBC News, the memo went beyond simply asking them to remove DEI programs and outlined the specific measures they should take regarding workplace training and college admissions. When it comes to scholarships, the memo says “a scholarship program must not target ‘underserved geographic areas’ or ‘first-generation students’ if the criteria are chosen to increase participation by specific racial or sex-based groups.”  

“Instead, use universally applicable criteria, such as academic merit or financial hardship, applied without regard to protected characteristics or demographic goals,” the memo continued. 

The memo added that federal funds should not be used by private firms or nonprofits to support third parties who engage in DEI activities. 

President Trump signed a flurry of executive orders targeting DEI initiatives in universities and the federal government shortly after taking office in January. He fired hundreds of federal workers for having jobs that were tangentially related to DEI. If it isn’t apparent, Trump is Captain Ahab and DEI is the white whale fueling his fanatical obsession. 

This is the second such memo the Trump administration released this year. In February, the Department of Education (DOE) sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to universities and colleges nationwide informing them that their federal funding would be at risk should they continue their DEI efforts. Shortly after the release of that memo, the DOE froze federal funds for several universities, including ones that preemptively shuttered their DEI programs. 

The DOE has also launched the “Civil Rights Fraud Initiative,” which is less about ensuring students aren’t having their rights violated and instead focuses on investigating schools the government believes aren’t complying with Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders. 

The freeze on federal funds and the threat of investigation have proven effectiv,e as several schools have announced an end to their DEI initiatives. Some schools have even gone so far as to end their support for affinity graduations, which are ceremonies where folks from similar racial and cultural backgrounds can celebrate among themselves. 

In the last week, the Trump administration reached deals with Brown and Columbia University, restoring their federal funding after they agreed to shutter their DEI initiatives. The Trump administration has argued that DEI programs and race-based admissions are discriminatory to white men, because we all know how hard it is for white men to succeed in a country built entirely to their advantage. 

The Trump administration’s claim that their anti-DEI push is an effort to restore merit-based hiring rings hollow, considering half of this administration is filled with TV personalities and loyalists with very little experience in their given roles. FEMA is run by a dude with no disaster management experience but is dead set on “fulfilling the President’s intent.” 

But sure, making it easier for qualified Black and brown people to gain jobs and education is the real problem. 

SEE ALSO:

UVA President Resigns Over Trump’s Anti-DEI Investigation

Trump’s DOJ Investigates University of California Over DEI Plan