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Ella Smith understands the predicament that the administrators at their college, Colorado State University Fort Collins, are facing when it comes to diversity efforts.
On Feb. 14, the Trump administration issued a letter calling on schools to immediately end all race-conscious policies and programming or risk losing federal funding. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights said it will start checking for compliance Friday.
But Smith, an organizer with the CSU Student Coalition for DEIA, said it doesn’t make sense that the school began to make changes to DEI efforts last week when most Colorado universities haven’t. Smith and other students have organized rallies, sit-ins, and other protests.
“We really feel that CSU is engaging in preemptive compliance,” said Smith.
CSU Fort Collins and the CSU System leaders have said they need to respond to the Trump administration’s demands, even though they believe they’re already following the law.
In a letter last week, CSU Fort Collins President Amy Parsons said, without elaborating, that the school would “shift some employee job duties and human resources policies and processes, and we will make some changes to CSU’s websites to reflect the institution’s compliance with federal guidelines.” The University of Colorado System similarly removed DEI from its websites and rebranded departments soon after Trump took office.
CSU Fort Collins did not respond to a request from Chalkbeat about more specific changes it plans to make.
Since President Donald Trump took office last month, universities in Colorado have had to adjust to a rapidly changing political landscape. Trump has tried to cut National Institutes of Health grants and rolled back support for Hispanic-Serving and Tribal-Serving Institutions. Now the Dear Colleague letter, which isn’t law, has made it clear that the Trump administration will seek to punish colleges and universities if they don’t comply with its expanded legal view of a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision banning race-conscious admissions.
The letter could have far-reaching consequences for virtually every aspect of campus life, including scholarships, extracurricular activities, graduation ceremonies, and student housing. But the federal government has yet to provide school leaders with concrete guidance about what it views as unacceptable.
Combined, the Trump administration’s recent directives have created immense uncertainty about how far colleges and universities should go in accepting cuts and complying with the federal government’s demands — or if schools should fight back.
In a letter to the CSU System community last week, President Tony Frank questioned whether rolling back diversity efforts at the school is the right approach.
“Is this conclusion appeasement?” he wrote. “Or is it recognizing that to accomplish our mission and our goals, a different approach is needed for a different moment in time?”
In the letter, the Trump administration said that it’s illegal to use race or gender or sexual orientation as a factor in providing different support for students.
“Put simply, educational institutions may neither separate or segregate students based on race, nor distribute benefits or burdens based on race,” Craig Trainor, the U.S. education department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, wrote in the Feb. 14 letter. “Although some programs may appear neutral on their face, a closer look reveals that they are, in fact, motivated by racial considerations.”
College advocacy groups cautioned soon after the Trump administration’s letter that college and university leaders shouldn’t overreact.
Speaking on a webinar last week attended by 5,000 people from colleges across the country, Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, said college leaders should not engage in “over-compliance” or “anticipatory compliance.”
“To be abundantly clear, Dear Colleague letters are not law,” he said.
If schools were compliant with federal law before the Dear Colleague letter came out, then they “are still in compliance with the law,” he said.
Colorado universities evaluate impact of Trump administration’s letter
The majority of Colorado colleges and universities haven’t made changes since the letter.
The University of Colorado System has not announced further updates to its operations beyond the website changes. Spokesperson Christopher Sparks said in a statement the schools anticipate there may be additional guidance from the federal government. He added, “as with all of the recent directives released during this federal transition, the university will continue to analyze them to assess the potential impact to CU.”
A University of Northern Colorado spokesperson said in a statement that the school’s leadership team is discussing the letter and don’t want to speculate how it could impact the university.
A Metropolitan State University of Denver spokesperson said in a statement its programs are open to all students, no matter their race or gender. That includes ceremonies such as MSU Denver’s Native American graduation, spokesperson Tim Carroll said.
“We define ourselves by who we include, not who we exclude,” he said.
Fort Lewis College said in a statement that the school is confident it currently complies with law.
“No matter the changes, we will continue providing the resources, support, and opportunities that empower our students and ensure faculty and staff have what they need to excel,” said Nardy Bickel, a school spokesperson.
And Adams State University President David Tandberg said his school remains committed to helping all students.
The federal guidance, along with Trump administration changes seeking to shift grants and support, does create uncertainty for schools, Tandberg said. Adams State will keep operating as usual and review or make changes when necessary, he said.
“It’s always important for us to ensure that any of our programming, our policies, or our language reflects our commitment to serve all students and that we don’t discriminate against race, ethnicity, gender, or sex,” he said.
CSU students upset by college system’s reaction to DEI orders
With most schools taking a wait-and-see approach, the news that CSU is making changes has infuriated many students.
Smith, the CSU student, has helped gather over 3,000 signatures on a petition protesting the changes laid out in Parsons’ letter. Students have also organized a sit-in at the school’s administrative building and have a plan for more protests.
The student protest coalition has asked students to also check in at campus Cultural Resource Centers that provide specialized support to specific communities, such as students with disabilities and those that are Native American. Checking in to these centers with a student ID is a way to show the centers are popular and that a diverse group of students uses them.
The protesters feared the university would do away with the centers as part of the changes to DEI, but the school has said the centers are safe because they are open to all students. Smith said they have visited the Native American Center for tutoring and that the Pride Resource Center is a place they like to hang out with others.
Calli Watson, a senior at CSU, said the news from the CSU System feels terrifying and like the school has singled out safe spaces for students. Watson said Parsons could have been more outspoken about protecting students.
“It kind of leaves me disheartened,” said Watson.
Smith said they fear staff training about inclusivity is also under threat. Creating a university workforce that is more informed about different student needs makes everyone feel welcome on campus, Smith said. Smith reiterated that the school’s actions make it feel like CSU leaders are not going to bat for the community.
“It is heartbreaking, but not only that, it makes me sick to my stomach,” Smith said.
In his letter, Frank said reassigning DEI-focused employees into more general student support roles will allow CSU to keep its federal funding and retain those employees on campus.
If not, it’s the system’s interpretation that “enforcement actions could well be taken — and do extremely serious damage,” he said.
Frank acknowledged in the letter that making any changes that could reduce support for CSU’s diverse students can be a source of pain and anger.
He said that some argue the system should fight back, which might put CSU in the crosshairs of the new administration. He wrote that he worries that doing so would gamble federal funding “that is critical to supporting our students”
College and university leaders nationwide have responded to the new administration in different ways. Over 200 have updated websites and policies since Trump’s inauguration, in part due to new state laws, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
In their letters, Frank and Parsons said the CSU schools rely heavily on the federal money that comes in to serve all students. Federal funding makes up about a third of CSU Fort Collins’ budget “and includes funding for research, student programs, community partnerships and federal financial aid,” Parsons wrote in her letter.
“To fail to begin to plan now in the face of the pace set by the Dear Colleague letter would, in my opinion, create a risk we should not take,” Frank said.
Jason Gonzales is a reporter covering higher education and the Colorado legislature. Chalkbeat Colorado partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Contact Jason at jgonzales@chalkbeat.org.
