University of Connecticut President Radenka Maric and Provost Anna D’Alleva released an email to all students on Tuesday, Jan. 28.
The email was in response to the new executive order made by the Trump administration on Jan. 20 that directly impacted Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
Trump signed an executive order that effectively removed DEI programs from all aspects of the federal government.
According to AP news, the executive action calls for the termination of such programs and further training on DEI. Any organization who has been given grants or federal funding in hopes to advance their DEI programs have also been affected.
UConn has several programs that fall under DEI initiatives such as the African American Cultural Center, Asian American Cultural Center, Native American Cultural Program, Middle Eastern Cultural Program and the Rainbow Center.
In response to these executive orders, UConn disclosed that it was a contractor and recipient of Title IV funding, which pertains to student support and academic enrichment and was unsure how greatly it would be impacted.
“For example, the executive order text directs an end to “discriminatory and illegal” preferences and policies or practices and to enforce federal civil rights laws, such as Title VII, Title IX, and Title VI – all of which prohibit discrimination,” according to UConn Today.
Despite the awaited news on the extent of Trumps removal of DEI programs, UConn assured that in the unlikely event immigration enforcement seeks a student on it’s campus’s, the university will not disclose information about a student’s course schedule.
UConn ended it’s statement by stating they would continue to evaluate any other future orders and to be transparent with the community.
Chris Newell, director of the Native American cultural program and professor-in-residence, described how these new orders would affect their respective organizations.
Newell described the difference between a cultural program and a cultural center saying that cultural programs were fully run by students, while cultural centers are staffed and have larger budgets. He says his position at UConn shows the university’s dedication to making the Native American cultural program into a center.
“In 2016, Harmony Starfire, who was a student here at the time, began the Native American Cultural program through the office of Diversity and Inclusion,” Newell said, noting the small scale of the cultural program during its beginning.
Newell says when the new administration made their initial statements on removing DEI programs he was not surprised, yet hopeful that the idea of DEI will not go away.
“We are much more human to each other when we are in person with one another, maybe the Trump administration will get rid of something called Diversity Equity and Inclusion but it will continue, just in another label,” says Newell.
Leave a Reply