Experts said higher education changes proposed by the Trump administration could undermine the strength of the American university system.
President Donald Trump has promised to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in schools and threatened to eliminate the Department of Education itself. Linda McMahon, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education, said during her Senate confirmation hearing that she would work to find a “remedy” for the education system’s consolidation of power in the federal government.
Trump’s executive order focusing on DEI initiatives is vague when it comes to defining what constitutes a DEI effort, said Lucrecia Santibañez, a professor at the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies. This lack of clarity makes the course of action for universities with DEI offices unknown, she added.