As an engineering student at the Ohio State University, Nadia Anguiano saw what robust support for students of color can look like.
The Minority Engineering Program included a summer program before the students’ freshman year. The dean of that program served as her mentor. And she felt the university was investing in the academic and career success of students like her.
But when she came to the University of Minnesota to study law, that support aimed at students of color felt absent.
Anguiano graduated from the law school in 2017 and now teaches there — and over time, she’s seen the law school strive for a more intentional approach to issues of inequity. As one example, in 2022, the law school hired its first assistant dean of diversity, equity and inclusion — which Anguiano pushed for as a student.
But last week, the University of Minnesota Law School announced it would not fill its assistant dean of DEl vacancy, amid confusion about the impact of President Donald Trump’s executive orders.
Anguiano was shocked, disappointed and angry when she saw the news.
“It is a huge reversion and rolling back of improvements that many of us, including some of the faculty, not just the person who fills this role, have been working toward in the curriculum and support of our student body,” she said.
William McGeveran, dean of the law school, announced the hiring pause in a January 31 email to law school students, faculty and staff.
“As you are all aware, in the last few weeks the national landscape for higher education has shifted. In response, the University is reassessing many programs, including those related to diversity, equity, and inclusion,” he wrote.
He stressed that he had been working closely with university administrators and “advocating against overreaction.”
“Nonetheless, in light of this ongoing reassessment, it is clear that we have no choice but to pause the search for our next assistant dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion,” he wrote. “The upcoming finalist visits that were scheduled will be canceled.”
In a statement, the university said it was focusing on its “current employees who contribute this important work” as it waited for clarification of federal policies.
On Monday, President Rebecca Cunningham sent an email to the university community stressing the university’s “longstanding commitment to fostering a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment.” She emphasized the value of diversity of thought and inclusion.
“To further clarify, we have not rolled back diversity, equity and inclusion at the University of Minnesota, and we are not making any preemptive changes to our existing programs,” she wrote.
But Liliana Zaragoza, an associate professor and director of the Racial Justice Law Clinic at the law school, said that claim was false. By not filling the vacancy of an existing role, the administration “is effectively eliminating this position indefinitely,” she said.
The uncertainty surrounding diversity programs comes as higher education institutions brace for a presidential crackdown on equity measures that Trump deems illegal — and the threat of the loss of federal funds.
In one of his first executive orders after taking office, Trump labeled programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion as “illegal discrimination.” As part of his extensive plan to end DEI initiatives, he said he would encourage the private sector to “End Illegal DEI Discrimination and Preferences.”
He said his administration would identify “potential civil compliance investigations” of corporations, large nonprofits, foundations — and higher education institutions with endowments over $1 billion, a list that includes the University of Minnesota.
On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to revoke funding from universities that advance equity measures.
“Schools that persist in explicit unlawful discrimination under the guise of equity will not only have their endowment taxed, but through budget reconciliation, I will advance a measure to have them fined up to the entire amount of their endowment,” Trump said in a May 2023 campaign video.
And the Trump administration has already signaled plans to investigate the University of Minnesota on a different issue. The U.S. Department of Education announced Monday that it would investigate five universities, including the University of Minnesota, as part of a separate executive order aimed at combating antisemitism.
The University of Minnesota is not the only higher education institution assessing its DEI practices in the wake of Trump’s executive orders. The Wall Street Journal reported that universities in Arizona, Michigan, and North Carolina are also reviewing their DEI practices, and in some cases, instructing staff to stop work on projects related to diversity, equity and inclusion.
More than three dozen law professors sent a letter Thursday to Cunningham, requesting that the university await guidance from the U.S. Department of Education and the resolution of any litigation before implementing this executive order.
Zaragoza described the law school’s hiring pause as “anticipatory compliance by the central administration at the University of Minnesota.”
“Unfortunately, these institutions, such as the U, are caving to a despot who is threatening to take away funds, whether it’s lawful or not,” she said.
Federal funds: What’s at stake?
Universities got a taste of what the revocation of federal funds might look like when Trump’s Office of Management and Budget ordered a freeze on federal grants on January 27. Federal judges quickly blocked that order. But it left students and university administrators reeling.
“That one scared me because I’m a Pell Grant recipient,” said Sumaya Mohamed, a sophomore political science major at the U. “I was sitting down, having conversations with my own dad, where I’m like, ‘Oh, I need to take a gap year.’”
The Trump administration, and then the University of Minnesota, clarified that Pell Grants and other federal student aid were not affected by the funding freeze. But the proposed funding freeze led to widespread confusion and alarm.
Federal student aid and research grants are the two primary ways that public universities receive federal funding, said Katharine Meyer, a fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution.
Pell Grants and other federal financial aid programs are specifically authorized by Congress, Meyer said.
“Congress has set a budget and allocated funds for all of these programs,” Meyer said. “In theory, that is the law, and you can’t stop dollars from going out the door for those programs. That is illegal.”
However, she said, the executive branch may have more discretion when it comes to research grants.
“I think there’s a lot that the executive branch as a whole, through the agencies, could do to slow down or stop existing grant competitions,” she said.
And rolling back research funding could be more subtle, too. Federal agencies could be slow to dole out funds, or attach additional requirements to grant proposals, for example, Meyer said.
“That happens in so many small, different ways of policy implementation that are absolutely within the agency’s control,” Meyer said.
Program officers have already told some researchers to cease work on projects due to the DEI executive order, she said.
The University of Minnesota instructed its research staff to continue work on their projects, unless they received a specific stop-work order. In the 2024 fiscal year, the University received $628 million in federal research grants — about 14% of the university’s total budget.
Congress could also look to expand the endowment tax it passed during the first Trump administration, Meyer said. In 2017, Trump signed a law taxing certain private college endowments at a rate of 1.4%. While a 100% fine on endowments is “seemingly unlikely to get negotiated,” Meyer said, Congress could increase that tax or expand its scope with a simple majority.
“That’s one potential area for policy where I could see the federal government trying to directly take money out of institutions,” Meyer said.
‘I was stunned’
Students and faculty who spoke with Sahan Journal expressed disappointment with the university for stopping the law school’s assistant dean search.
In Mondale Hall over lunch on Wednesday, law students repeatedly expressed frustration, though many did not want their names to appear in a news story for fear of retaliation. One student said she’d appreciated the structural support the previous DEI dean had provided. Another said she had seen DEI programs dismantled in her home state of Texas, and came to Minnesota in hopes diversity programs would have more support here.
“I think the dean should reactivate the search committee and should start interviewing candidates and just ignore the broader political climate, because it’s not worth participating in,” said Henry McCulloh, a second-year law student.
Students and professors in other university departments wondered what implications the hiring freeze would have for them.
“I was stunned because I assumed the university’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion was foundational to what the institution was,” said Michael Gallope, a professor of cultural studies and comparative literature.
He noted that U.S. presidents have limited power to control state universities. “So they rely on using these executive orders to message obedience,” he said. “We have every right to stand up and say that this is wrong. And in fact that’s what we need our leaders to do, is to stand firm on the values of the institution.”
“It seems apparent that many people, especially in the administration, are fearful of being and making the University of Minnesota a target,” said Sumanth Gopinath, a professor of music theory.
Gopinath said he worried about the implications for academic freedom in attempts to ban DEI.
“It just seems weird to me to imagine that you can ban a particular type of activity which is, in part, a mode of inquiry at a university, without undermining academic freedom,” he said. “We shouldn’t just obey in response to threats that are incoherent.”
Juliet Murphy, a sophomore psychology and family social science major who is a member of Students for a Democratic Society, said she worried about other DEI rollbacks. In states like Utah and Florida, universities have eliminated cultural centers in efforts to comply with anti-DEI laws.
“It is difficult to know that you’re going to classes at an institution that says they care about you, but when your rights are on the line, they’re not really going above and beyond to protect them,” she said.
Murphy praised some of the university’s unique academic programs, including the Chicano and Latino Studies Department and the American Indian and Indigenous Studies doctoral program. She hoped those would not be cut back amid attacks on DEI.
“We have a lot of really cool people and faculty here that we don’t want to lose,” she said.
Support for students?
Zaragoza noted that the law school’s student body has grown increasingly diverse in recent years. About a quarter of the current first-year students are now people of color. But, she said, the law school hasn’t always provided adequate support for its diverse student body.
At a minimum, she said, she hoped that the university would stand by its programming for students of color, LGBTQ+ students and disabled students.
But ultimately, she hoped they would reconsider and hire a new assistant dean.
“Every day without somebody in this position is a loss,” she said.
