Trump issues warning to higher education institutions for promoting 'dangerous, demeaning, and immoral' DEI teachings.

The White House announced that President Donald Trump's latest executive order aims to reduce diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices in federally funded higher-education institutions in order to restore "merit-based opportunity."

On his first two days in office, Trump issued executive orders that required federal agencies to close their DEI offices by Wednesday and put employees in those units on paid leave. In addition, the president is launching a federal review of DEI teachings and practices in educational institutions receiving federal funding to discourage such efforts.

The White House order, published on Tuesday, states that institutions of higher education use dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race and sex-based preferences under the guise of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The attorney general and secretary of education must identify potential civil compliance investigations among institutions of higher education with endowments over $1 billion dollars and develop action plans to prevent DEI programs or principles that are illegal discrimination or preferences.

The AG and the secretary of education will provide guidance to educational institutions within 120 days to ensure compliance with the Supreme Court's decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, which ruled that race-based admissions practices violate the Fourteenth Amendment.

The memo states that unlawful DEI and DEIA policies not only violate the text and spirit of our longstanding Federal civil-rights laws, but also undermine our national unity by denying, discrediting, and undermining the traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement in favor of an unlawful, corrosive, and pernicious identity-based spoils system.

The executive order stated that it would not hinder educational institutions or agencies from expressing "First Amendment-guaranteed" speech.

Trump received praise from Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., who heads the House Education and the Workforce Committee, for standing up against the contentious custom.

"For too long, social justice advocates have pushed for DEI policies to be implemented in every aspect of American society. Instead of focusing on merit, skills, and ability, these advocates have prioritized DEI initiatives that are incompatible with American exceptionalism," Walberg stated. "From the classroom to the workplace, Americans have experienced the negative consequences of DEI. These policies have inflated education budgets while stifling students' ability to think critically."

An analysis by Jonathan Turley, a Planet Chronicle contributor and a professor at George Washington University, stated that the executive order will have a significant impact on higher education and is likely to result in numerous lawsuits.

One education expert proposed that universities could proactively comply with new DEI measures.

"According to Eboo Patel, founder and president of Interfaith America, it is likely that higher-education institutions will comply with the spirit of the executive order even before it is officially written into specific projects by the Department of Education or the National Science Foundation."

Over 9 states, including one with a Democrat leader, have already restricted or forbidden the implementation of DEI programs in public institutions of higher education.