Support for #highered in light of Trump's attempted #DEI ban: A letter jointly from the AGs of #Illinois, #Massachussetts, and #NewYork providing guidance for responding to Trump's "dear colleague" letter.
About half the letter is reproduced below.
[the Dear Colleague letter and accompanying documents] misconstrue Supreme Court precedent, wrongly imply that it might be unlawful for schools to consider the impact of policies and practices on diversity, and create a misimpression of the impact of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programming and its legality. To be clear, nothing in the “Dear Colleague” letter or FAQ changes existing law and well-established legal principles that encourage—and even require—schools to promote educational opportunity for students of all backgrounds. The President cannot change longstanding legal precedent by executive order, and a Dear Colleague letter and FAQ document certainly cannot do so. The “Dear Colleague” letter has inspired fear, and the Attorneys General write to mitigate that fear.
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[RE: legal experts' rebuttal to the Dear Colleague letter]: the professors explain the fundamental legality of common diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices, and urge university leaders to “respond confidently, with both law and moral principle on your side, and not to sacrifice essential and legally defensible DEI initiatives that help universities fulfill their most basic mission to pursue truth and knowledge for the common good.” Our offices share in the professors’ call.
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The February 14 Dear Colleague Letter mischaracterizes DEI programs... [which] provide all students an equal opportunity to learn and better prepare students to work in our diverse country and participate in our multiracial democracy. They are essential to promoting fair treatment and eliminating stigmatization. The SFFA decision has no bearing on these lawful DEI programs, and the February 14 Dear Colleague letter cannot and does not prohibit them.
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The attached guidance on SFFA, first issued by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 2023 and updated in light of the DOE’s recent communication, provides additional information on legally compliant ways that educational institutions can continue to meaningfully and successfully achieve the worthy goals of diverse and equitable student bodies consistent with state law, Title VI, and the U.S. Constitution.
At the same time, the Attorneys General remind all educational institutions that they must themselves abide by the nation’s civil rights laws, whatever changes they may make to their programming and policies. Fear of the “Dear Colleague” letter or the loss of federal funding is not a justification to impose or reimpose discriminatory practices. The Attorneys General stand ready to enforce their States’ robust civil rights protections—which in many cases exceed federal civil rights protections—wherever discrimination may be found.
2017-04-25
WHEN: Saturday, March 15, 12-2pm
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