Separating Fact from Fear: Upholding Diversity, Equity, and inclusion in Higher Ed

HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEMS AND LEADERS,

Latinx, Black, Asian American, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native students and families need you to be loud and clear at this moment. Higher education is meant for all and you will fight to protect it. 

The fact remains that education should be our nation’s great equalizer, and diversity our greatest asset. This administration’s relentless attacks are meant to shock us into overreaction or submission, but we cannot give in to these inhumane tactics. We must stay clear-eyed and firm: the Department of Education’s latest directive  to end diversity, equity, and inclusion programs is sweeping guidance that does not change the law and cannot alter our constitutional standards. We must reject these attempts to rewrite the role of diversity, equity, and inclusion in ensuring equal opportunity. Racial equity is essential to our multiracial democracy and economy, and we will not let this administration undo our progress.