Attorney General Pamela Bondi wrote a memorandum declaring that all practices on racial awareness are illegal.
Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu via Getty Images
Three months after federal courts removed a Department of Education directive that prohibited any practices of racial race in colleges across the country, the Justice Department announced Wednesday that diversity, equity and inclusion practices were illegal and “discriminatory.”
However, the agency’s memorandum goes further than Ed’s guidance, suggesting that plans that rely on what they call racial alternatives, such as focusing on recruitment efforts in most fine geographic areas, may violate federal civil rights laws. The directive applies to any organization that receives federal funds, and Justice Department officials warn that engaging in potentially illegal practices could result in loss of grants.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi wrote that other examples of “potentially illegal agents” include job seekers “expressing” cultural competence, “living experience,” or “intercultural skills” or narrative requirements about how applicants overcome obstacles.
This interpretation of federal law could present new challenges for universities that rely on strategies such as location-based recruitment since the Supreme Court banned affirmative action in 2023.
“This highlights that every practice in the university is under scrutiny, even for those who have been politically considered safe for years (such as the top ten programs or even the trio program). The only way to be truly safe at the moment is to accept students or use only standardized test scores, or use only standardized test scores,” Robert Kelchen Internal Advanced ED. “Being an admissions management leader has been tough, but it is now more challenging to achieve income goals and meet stakeholders with politically incompatible goals.”
The document provides clearer guidance on the scale considered by the Department of Justice in investigating DEIs in universities and universities. The Justice Department played a bigger role in investigating the university as it enforced the DEI program’s stance and worked to increase diversity among faculty and staff in violation of federal anti-discrimination laws.
Since President Trump took office in January, he has targeted DEI programs, practices and personnel through execution orders and other efforts. However, senior emergency specialists have repeatedly said the orders will not change the basic law, so universities that comply with the law by January 20 are still following it. In response to federal statutes, the university has backed down many programs and catered to the closed centers of specific student groups.
In a nine-page memorandum cited in a February letter from the Ministry of Education’s dear colleagues, many practices declared illegal, such as race-based scholarships. But it also makes it clear that “BIPOC Learning Lounge” and similar facilities are illegal. The Ministry of Education guidance usually refers to race-based facilities, but does not specifically study lounges.
DEI advocates have long believed that these centers or lounges are open to all students. Even after the state ban, some have persisted, but in recent months, multiple universities have closed centers that suit specific student groups. Bondy believes that this space violates Chapter VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race and nationality.
“Even if technically open to everyone, identity-based focus creates perceptions of apartheid and may promote hostile environments. This extends to any resource allocation, such as research spaces, computer labs, or event sites, can be accessed based on protected features, even if it is intended to create a “safe space”.”
Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Universities and Universities, said the memorandum was “another example of an over-engagement in academic freedom, institutional autonomy and common governance that funding that aligns with the ideology of government’s perspectives provides the conditions for fiscal funding.”
She added that the guidelines in the document violate existing constitutional protections and erode federal civil rights laws.
“What is missing from the DOJ’s narrative about DEI is that treatment of people is not always unfair, especially when doing so will correct a broader pattern of systemic injustice. Considering race and gender is considered in the context of historic injustice so that universities and universities themselves do not constitute illegal discrimination, otherwise, otherwise, it would not constitute illegal discrimination.”
In addition to race-based practices, the letter is targeted at trans student-athletes, based on previous actions by the Trump administration, where advocates say denying the existence of trans people and withdrawing their rights. The memorandum states that this is often illegal for people who distribute men at birth to compete for women’s sports teams or institutions to “force” and “force” to share an intimate space with others, such as locker rooms, and other genders.
Pasquerella noted that the letter provided guidance, not legal requirements.
“Nevertheless, given the weaponization of the research fund creates a climate of fear and intimidation, the best practices described and non-binding recommendations could lead to another wave of expected compliance and overcorrection,” she said.
