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Universities will have to decide: bow down to Trump, or defend their students and missions [1]
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Date: 2025-02-06
Long before “diversity”, “equity”, and “inclusion” were turned into slurs by bigoted conservatives, many of these terms were integrated into University and College mission statements and other institutional statements of values. It is these facets of higher education that Trump is targeting in several of his Executive Orders and other actions:
One Executive Order targets DEI initiatives, offices and personnel, which exists across higher education in America.
One EO threatens to withhold funding from institutions that have teacher education programs if they teach teachers about gender identity.
Trump’s DOJ has been directed to “criminally investigate” businesses that “do DEI”
Further, Trump’s Department of Education is weaponing Title IX against schools for providing trans female students the opportunities to compete, and mis-gendering students as they do so.
Today, following Trump’s Executive Order targeting trans women in women’s sports, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) board has voted to implement discriminatory rules that ban trans women from competition in women’s sports.
The NCAA is a ‘member organization’, with 1,100 institutions making up its membership. At these schools, there are about 500,000 athletes that compete in NCAA tournaments. The NCAA has a director and a board, which are the ones who decided today to ban trans women athletes from women’s sports.
The NCAA’s intent to discriminate against trans female athletes is in conflict with the mission and values statements for many of its member intuitions.
Below is a sampling of quotes pulled from mission and value statements from eight institutions within the Big Ten division. The Big Ten overall has eighteen universities, with over 500,000 total students (both athletes and non-athletes) in these institutions.
Almost all of these institutions value diversity. Some make have an explicit goal to work to eliminate discrimination and bias.
Indiana University Bloomington Mission
The Bloomington campus is committed to full diversity, academic freedom, and meeting the changing educational and research needs of the state, the nation, and the world.
University of Illinois Guiding Values
Guiding value for the system : Be inclusive, treat each other with dignity and respect, and promote citizenship
: Champaign -Urbana defines Pre-eminence: We will be leaders in advancing diversity and equity that will contribute to creating an institution committed to excellence in discovery, teaching, and research, and a climate where all can achieve their highest aspirations in a safe and welcoming environment.
UCLA Mission & Values
Principles of Community: We do not tolerate acts of discrimination, harassment, profiling or other conduct causing harm to individuals on the basis of expression of race, color, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, religious beliefs, political preference, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship or national origin, among other personal characteristics.
University of Iowa Core Values
Inclusion: We affirm and celebrate all backgrounds and identities. We achieve excellence by attracting and retaining a diverse, talented population of students, faculty, and staff, and building a welcoming and accessible environment in which individuals feel valued and respected and have the opportunity to thrive.
University of Michigan Values
I nclusion: We create an environment where all can participate, are invited to contribute, and have a sense of belonging
Equity: We create conditions that provide everyone an opportunity to thrive.
Respect: We act in a way that acknowledges the humanity and contributions of each individual.
Michigan State University Strategic Plan Mission and Values
Equity : We will eliminate barriers to access and success, challenge discrimination and bias, and address past and present inequalities
Minnesota twin cities Mission Statement
Guiding values: In all of its activities, the University strives to sustain an open exchange of ideas in an environment that [...] provides an atmosphere of mutual respect, free from racism, sexism, and other forms of prejudice and intolerance;
The Ohio State University Statement of Values, Principles, and Behaviors
Inclusion and Equity: Together we [...]
Intentionally foster a sense of belonging where all are valued
Acknowledge and address individual and systemic effects of bias and discrimination
For Universities and Colleges to follow Trump’s Executive Orders, many of them would need to write diversity and inclusion out of their mission and value statements and implement discrimination against their own students. Some of them may do just that. Some of them, due to the small size of the trans population, may decide to sacrifice the rights of trans students to the conservative outage machine, like the Democrat party did in the 2024 election.
The rest of the Universities and Colleges will need to decide-
Are they going to bow down to Trump, or are they going to stand up for their missions and values, and most of all, for their students?
Because if you’re willing to rewrite your values at their first serious challenge, were they actually your values?
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