The University of Wyoming has cut ties with a project that landed it on a list of 45 universities under federal investigation for allegedly engaging in race-exclusionary practices in their graduate programs, the school announced Friday.
The announcement came hours after the U.S. Department of Education said it had launched the investigations “amid allegations that these institutions have violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act …. by partnering with ‘The Ph.D. Project.’” The federal agency described the project as “an organization that purports to provide doctoral students with insights into obtaining a Ph.D. and networking opportunities, but limits eligibility based on the race of participants.”
The Department of Education launched the investigations a month after it issued a “Dear Colleague” letter giving institutions a two-week deadline to comply with the Trump administration’s interpretation of civil rights law. Since President Donald Trump took office in January, his administration has taken broad steps to eliminate diversity and inclusion efforts from government and public institutions.
“The Department will no longer tolerate the overt and covert racial discrimination that has become widespread in this Nation’s educational institutions,” the letter stated. “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 under controlling Supreme Court precedent.”
The university will comply with the investigation and was already looking into the Ph.D Project’s alleged “race-exclusionary” approach, UW spokesperson Chad Baldwin wrote in a statement.
The university’s College of Business has been a partner in the program “as a way to increase its pipeline of graduate students,” Baldwin wrote.
When the Wyoming Legislature passed a law prohibiting the university from engaging in “diversity, equity and inclusion” programs, Baldwin wrote that “UW in May 2024 eliminated its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and began a comprehensive review of university practices to eliminate those that promote differential treatment of individuals or classify people on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity or national origin.”
That review flagged the Ph.D. Project and led UW to discontinue that relationship, Baldwin said.
Political response
That was deeply disappointing to UW alumna Karlee Provenza, a Democrat who represents Laramie in the Wyoming House.
“My education at the University of Wyoming was incredible, and I benefited from being around all different kinds of people,” said Provenza, who got her Ph.D in social psychology with an emphasis on psychology and the law.
“They’re creating a boogeyman, and they’re setting up hysteria and manufactured rage to try and take down public education,” Provenza said of the Trump-directed investigation. “So when the government comes to dismantle education, the University of Wyoming shows its colors by saying, ‘okay, that’s fine,’ instead of standing up and saying, ‘We have done a damn good job here, and we’re going to continue to do a good job, and you can rip our education out from our cold, dead hands.’
“That’s what leadership would look like. But there’s apparently no leadership at the University of Wyoming.”
Republican state lawmakers have been pushing the university to roll back its diversity initiatives, barring the school from spending state dollars on diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Last year, administrators closed UW’s Office of Multicultural Affairs, which has existed for 30 years, replacing it with the Pokes Center for Community Resources. Officials also closed UW’s DEI office, though some of its programs were moved to other areas of the university.
Lawmakers weren’t convinced that went far enough, and they passed multiple bills during the recently completed session intended to combat DEI programs. Gov. Mark Gordon vetoed one bill that sought to enact restrictions on curriculum requirements at UW and Wyoming’s community colleges while also barring DEI-related activity within government. The governor said the measure “introduces ill-defined and overly broad restrictions, creates significant legal ambiguities and risks unintended consequences that could negatively impact Wyoming’s higher education institutions and workforce development.” He signed a second measure, House Bill 147, that bars government agencies from participating in DEI programs, the Sheridan Press reported.
“Governor Gordon is pleased that the University is cooperating with the investigation and that it has already taken steps to identify and review its programs that may involve race-exclusionary practices,” the governor’s spokesman Michael Pearlman told WyoFile in a statement Friday. “The Governor is confident that the University will make every effort to ensure full compliance with both federal and state laws, including this year’s House Bill 147 when it goes into effect on July 1.”
Among the other 44 schools being investigated by the Trump administration are Boise State University, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and Montana State University-Bozeman.
“Students must be assessed according to merit and accomplishment, not prejudged by the color of their skin,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement. “We will not yield on this commitment.”
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