A student walks on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City in April. (Erika Bolstad/Stateline)
The University of Utah is among 45 universities the Trump administration is investigating over “racial preferences and stereotypes in education programs and activities.”
The universities partnered with The Ph.D Project, a program that provides support to historically underrepresented students in their path to earning business-related doctoral degrees. But the program, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Education, “limits eligibility based on the race of participants.”
That collaboration motivated the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to start investigations at the 45 participating schools over what it considers discriminatory acts on the basis of race, color and national origin.
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“Today’s announcement expands our efforts to ensure universities are not discriminating against their students based on race and race stereotypes,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in the release. “Students must be assessed according to merit and accomplishment, not prejudged by the color of their skin.”
President Donald Trump has been a vocal critic of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, promising to crackdown on the programs directed toward underrepresented communities, especially in academia, which he described as “immense public waste and shameful discrimination.”
According to McMahon, those efforts include investigations into institutions “where widespread antisemitic harassment has been reported and Title IX investigations into entities which allegedly continue to allow sex discrimination.”
“The University of Utah is aware of the investigation into U.S. colleges and universities who have worked with The PhD Project to make advanced business education accessible to students from underrepresented groups,” the university said in a statement. “We will respond to federal investigators in the course of the investigation.”
However, the U. had already been working to overhaul DEI programs since last year, before Trump took office.
After Utah approved a bill restricting DEI initiatives in the public sector, higher education institutions in the state took steps to comply with the law. While identity-based cultural centers are still allowed under the policy, as long as they aren’t exclusive, many have erred on the side of caution. The University of Utah, for example, eliminated its women’s and LGBT resource centers.
The investigations also follow a letter the Education Department sent to the colleges in February urging them to adhere to Title VI policies and requiring that they stop factoring in 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.”
Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the department, advised schools to ensure compliance with the Civil Rights Act, and to end reliance on third-party contractors “that are being used by institutions in an effort to circumvent prohibited uses of race.”
Those who fail to comply, Trainor wrote, may lose federal funding.
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