University of Michigan shutters all of its DEI offices as Trump continues to exert influence over higher ed

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The University of Michigan is closing its diversity, equity and inclusion offices amid President Donald Trump’s tirade against the programs.

The public university in Ann Arbor is closing its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion, according to a Thursday statement. The university attributed the changes to “recent federal executive orders.”

Trump issued an executive order shortly after taking office seeking to end DEI programs, including those at higher education institutions. His administration also launched investigations into dozens of universities this month, alleging they violated civil rights laws with race-based scholarships and programs.

“These decisions have not been made lightly,” the university’s statement reads. “We recognize the changes are significant and will be challenging for many of us, especially those whose lives and careers have been enriched by and dedicated to programs that are now pivoting.”

The University of Michigan is closing its DEI offices, citing ‘federal executive orders’ (Getty Images)

The university will now be investing more money in financial aid, scholarships and mental health support.

The school was once a flagship for DEI programs and was considered a model for other schools nationwide. The University of Michigan poured more than $250 million into their DEI program since it started a decade ago, The New York Times reports.

The University of Michigan isn’t the first school to cave to Trump’s efforts to dismantle DEI programs — and it likely won’t be the last.

Case Western Reserve University, a private school in Cleveland, shuttered its DEI office on Wednesday. University President Eric Kaler cited Trump’s executive orders in his announcement, local outlet Signal Cleveland reports.

“We have watched the evolution of the legal challenges to these executive orders, and, as we have seen among some of our peers already, it is clear we must be in compliance with them to receive the federal funding that is critical to our present and future,” Kaler said.

Another school making changes to its DEI programs includes the University of Colorado, which took down its DEI webpage and posted a new one for an “Office of Collaboration.”

The University of Akron similarly announced it would no longer host a long-standing “Rethinking Race” forum, citing federal and state guidance, according to The New York Times.

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