University of Michigan, longtime champion of progressive values, to close DEI office
Source: USA Today
Published 6:09 p.m. ET March 27, 2025
The University of Michigan is closing its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, a major retreat for a school that has long championed its progressive values in the wake of executive orders from President Donald Trump that have targeted DEI efforts nationwide. University President Santa Ono informed staffers in a statement posted to the university's website.
"The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI) and the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion (OHEI) will close," the school said in the statement signed by Ono, Provost Laurie McCauley, Marschall Runge, the executive vice president of medical affairs, and Executive Vice President Geoffrey Chatas. "Student-facing services in ODEI will shift to other offices focused on student access and opportunity."
The statement went on to say: "The DEI 2.0 Strategic Plan, the umbrella strategy for schools, colleges and units, will be discontinued, along with DEI 2.0 unit plans, related programming, progress reporting, training and funding. Individual leads, who have supported DEI efforts in schools, colleges and units, will refocus their full effort on their core responsibilities." The decision drew immediate blowback from a faculty leader on campus.
"The federal government is determined to dismantle and control higher education and to make our institutions more uniform, more inequitable, and more exclusive," Rebekah Modrak, chair of the Faculty Senate, wrote to colleagues in an email about the decision. "They are using the power of the government to engineer a sweeping culture change towards white supremacy. Unfortunately, University of Michigan leaders seem determined to comply and to collaborate in our own destruction."
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/03/27/university-michigan-dei-office-trump/82696621007/
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