Recently, President Donald Trump signed executive orders rolling back several diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives (DEIA). To comply with these executive orders, Rutgers University has cancelled the HBCUs and Registered Apprenticeship Mini-Conference, which was set to take place next week. The event sponsored by the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI) was created to highlight HBCU leaders’ and students’ perspectives and experiences in workforce development. But due to President Trump’s policies on DEI initiatives, programs like this have been shut down.
On January 20 and 21, 2025, the executive orders, “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing” and “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” were issued. These orders seek to eliminate DEI-related activities at all federal agencies, including those that finance HBCU-benefiting projects. CMSI said in a statement that they had been instructed to stop all activities under the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility HUB, which is supported by the U.S. Department of Labor.
“We were very excited to bring the HBCUs and Registered Apprenticeship Mini-Conference to you next week,” the statement read. “Unfortunately, due to President Trump’s executive orders, we have been asked to cease all work under the auspices of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility HUB.”
Trump’s administration has characterized the DEI tactics implemented under President Joe Biden as “illegal and immoral.” The decision is part of this broader effort to end these practices. The executive order described Biden’s DEI initiatives as a “public waste” that encouraged “shameful discrimination.” All DEI offices, equitable action plans, and associated funding streams must be shut down within 60 days of Trump’s directive.
Concerns have also been expressed over the directives’ wider effects on students and minority-serving institutions (MSIs). HBCUs, which already face severe financial limitations, risk losing vital resources that support their efforts to address workforce inequalities. A lot of people in the advocacy and academic communities are concerned that this would have a negative impact on diversity initiatives in higher education.
As the Trump administration proceeds with these radical reforms, HBCU leaders and supporters must choose how to continue essential programs in a time when government funding is being reduced. The Rutgers CMSI promises to keep up its efforts, but for organizations dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace, the loss of federal funding is a major setback.
