President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders on Wednesday, including several aimed at eliminating the influence of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies in the education system.
The directives addressed a range of issues, including artificial intelligence education, foreign funding in universities, accreditation standards, and school discipline policies. Trump signed the orders in the Oval Office alongside Education Secretary Linda McMahon, the Daily Wire reported.
One of the orders rolled back school disciplinary guidance issued during the Obama administration that told schools across the country that they could lose federal funding “if their disciplinary decisions ran afoul of a newly imposed disparate-impact framework under which race-neutral disciplinary policies, applied in an even-handed manner, may be improper if members of any racial groups are suspended, expelled, or referred to law enforcement at higher rates than others.”
Trump wrote that the Obama guidance “required schools to discriminate on the basis of race by imposing discipline based on racial characteristics, rather than on objective behavior alone.”
The order requires that schools refrain from considering race when enforcing their discipline policies.
Several executive orders target university education, particularly one aimed at accreditors, whom Trump claims have “abused their enormous authority” by compelling universities to adopt diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
Named in the executive order are the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, which pushes for institutions to implement “policies and procedures related to recruitment and retention of individuals underrepresented in medicine,” specifically including racial minorities.
“The Secretary of Education shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, hold accountable, including through denial, monitoring, suspension, or termination of accreditation recognition, accreditors who fail to meet the applicable recognition criteria or otherwise violate Federal law, including by requiring institutions seeking accreditation to engage in unlawful discrimination in accreditation-related activity under the guise of ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ initiatives,” Trump wrote.
Another executive order regarding higher education aims to enhance transparency concerning foreign funding of American universities. It directs the Education Department and the Justice Department to establish stricter reporting requirements.
