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The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced investigations Friday into 45 colleges and universities, including the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, that partnered with an organization that provides mentorship and support for PhD candidates from underrepresented backgrounds.
The investigations appear to be the first tied to a “Dear Colleague” letter that said the Trump administration would punish colleges and universities if they don’t end scholarships, mentorship programs, and networking groups meant to create more opportunities for students of color. The letter interprets a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision barring the use of race in college admissions to mean that any opportunities geared toward people from one racial group violate the law.
“The Department is working to reorient civil rights enforcement to ensure all students are protected from illegal discrimination,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in a press release. “Today’s announcement expands our efforts to ensure universities are not discriminating against their students based on race and race stereotypes.”
The investigations are tied to partnerships with The PhD Project, a national organization that helps support and provide networking for diverse doctoral candidates. Universities under investigation include CU Colorado Springs as well as New York University, Rutgers University, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Chicago, and Vanderbilt University.
In its announcement about the investigations, the Education Department describes The PhD Project as “an organization that purports to provide doctoral students with insights into obtaining a Ph.D. and networking opportunities, but limits eligibility based on the race of participants.”
The Office for Civil Rights sent a Thursday letter to CU Colorado Springs Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet that said it received a complaint against the school’s College of Business alleging discrimination against students on the basis of race, national origin, and ethnicity by supporting a PhD Project conference that was allegedly only available to university students who identify as Black, Hispanic, or Native American.
Sobanet said in a statement that she believes the school only used the PhD Project’s platform to advertise open faculty positions.
“Like universities across the country, we use various platforms to seek and recruit the best teaching and research talent for our students,” she said.
The school is in the process of gathering additional information about the complaint and will comply with the Education Department’s requests, Sobanet said. She added that the school does not discriminate in its recruitment or hiring practices.
A statement from the PhD Project said the network works to broaden the pipeline of business leaders and develop school faculty who can inspire, mentor, and support leaders.
The organization said on its website before the letter that it works with university partners committed to diversifying their campuses. Its work has increased the number of professors of color from 294 in 1994 to over 1,700, according to website archives.
“This year, we have opened our membership application to anyone who shares that vision,” the statement says.
The civil rights office is also investigating six universities for “allegedly awarding impermissible race-based scholarships” and one other university “for allegedly administering a program that segregates students on the basis of race.” The announcement did not provide further details.
The letter last month cited the 2023 Supreme Court decision that banned the use of race in college admissions as the basis for its enforcement actions. That decision was narrowly focused on admissions practices. But the letter expanded on that decision by saying it is illegal to use race or gender or sexual orientation as a factor in providing different levels of support for some students.
Antonio Ingram, who is senior counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said there is no legal justification for investigations into scholarships, programs that mentor Black or Hispanic students, or help certain groups of students feel like they belong on a campus.
No previous administration has launched investigations into programs that seek to help students who have historically made up a disproportionately smaller percentage of students on college and university campuses, he said.
He said the investigations are a way to reshape American higher education to bend to the administration’s political views rather than allowing colleges and universities to be places of free expression and an exchange of ideas.
“The investigations are a tool meant to create fear and compliance among universities,” Ingram said.
Other legal experts such as Ingram and higher education groups have called on colleges and universities not to overreact to the guidance by preemptively ending programs that make groups of students feel welcome on campus, especially because the Dear Colleague letter isn’t law.
Some colleges and universities nationwide and in Colorado have already responded.
Several colleges and universities nationwide removed references to diversity, equity, and inclusion after the letter. Schools such as the University of Cincinnati have announced they will eliminate DEI practices.
In Colorado, Colorado State University System officials, despite saying they believed they were in compliance with federal law, also made changes to school websites that mentioned diversity, equity, and inclusion. School officials also said they would begin to shift some employee job duties and human resources policies focused on DEI.
Other Colorado university leaders did not make changes but said they also believed they were in compliance with federal law.
The investigations are part of a significant shift in how the Education Department is handling civil rights enforcement under the Trump administration. The administration has said combatting antisemitism on college campuses, blocking transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports, and ending diversity practices it considers discriminatory are top priorities, even as it has slashed staff in the civil rights office.
And the administration has moved quickly to cut off federal funds after announcing high-profile investigations, rather than spending weeks or months gathering facts and working toward a resolution.
Last week, the Trump administration cancelled more than $400 million in grants and contracts at Columbia University because of last year’s pro-Palestinian protests on the campus. On Monday, the civil rights office accused 60 universities, including Columbia, of discrimination against Jewish students. The office cited Title VI in launching its investigation, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin.
The administration then demanded on Thursday that Columbia University cede control of its international studies department and make changes to campus policies, according to the Associated Press.
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.
