Recent directives from the Trump administration are putting the future of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in jeopardy and sending shockwaves throughout the world of higher education, including at Dickinson. President Donald Trump’s order from January 20 “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing” (Executive Order 14151), and the subsequent “Dear Colleague” letter from the Department of Education aims to eliminate DEI in the government and educational system. However, college leaders across the US say both documents are vague and at times contradictory, which is causing confusion among educators.

Educational studies Professor Jacquie Forbes said that her work, “not just as a pedagogue, but also as a researcher, has the potential to be impacted by the policies that are coming out,” especially in the areas of race and gender identity. Provost Renée Ann Cramer said that Dickinson College is in compliance with all current laws and that no federally funded research projects have yet been affected.

This is not to say that recent orders have not impacted campus. Some faculty displayed reticence to discuss their research, and while a judge partially blocked President Trump’s orders on the basis that they undermine free speech, the threat of government punishment still looms large.

Some colleges and universities have begun to preemptively comply with Trump’s orders. As reported by PublicSource, the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University began removing DEI-related terms from their websites after Executive Order 14151 was issued. This swift response to the order and the “Dear Colleague” letter is not unlike the response to the “Dear Colleague” letter issued by the Obama administration in 2011. The letter encouraged expansion of Title IX in order to crack down on sexual misconduct on college campuses. While “Dear Colleague” letters do not have the force of law, both the 2011 and 2025 letters caused notable changes on college campuses. Forbes said that some of her students have expressed concern that such preemptive reactions to the current order could lead to classes about DEI-related topics being discontinued.

While this is not yet a reality in higher education, curriculum changes are already taking place in K-12 schools. The executive order titled “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” aims to eliminate “anti-American, subversive, harmful, and false ideologies” from classrooms.

The order defines this as removing mentions of ‘“White Privilege” and “unconscious bias”’ from curriculums, while instead teaching “that celebration of America’s greatness and history is proper.” The order also reestablishes the 1776 Commission, which is tasked with promoting “patriotic education.” The original commission from the first administration, which had no historians of the Americas involved, attempted to create ‘patriotic’ narratives of history which didn’t mention certain atrocities or other unethical actions of the colonists. Forbes described the order as barring educators from “talking about race…[and] gender in any ways that might cause people who are cisgender, people who are straight, people who are not people of color, to grapple with questions about their racial identity, their gender identity and their sexuality.” With both public K-12 and higher education under fire, roles continue to evolve for private institutions like Dickinson, which currently seem to be spared from curriculum changes and funding cuts. 

Forbes said that she has encountered many students who did not have the opportunity to engage with diverse people and perspectives until they entered Dickinson College, and that anti-DEI initiatives could limit these opportunities. Though the future is uncertain, Cramer encouraged students to trust College leadership and to continue having conversations about current issues. When asked how students can voice their concerns in an increasingly polarized world, Forbes said “This is not the time for neutrality. This is not the time for us to backtrack on our goals and our missions, and it’s not the time for us to hide.”