The Department of Education announced Friday that it has launched investigations into alleged race-based discrimination at three California universities and 49 other colleges across the country, as the Trump administration pressures schools to eliminate campus diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that it claims harm white and Asian American students.
The investigations, which are taking place at UC Berkeley, Cal Poly Humboldt, and Cal State San Bernardino, come about a month after the department issued a memo threatening to revoke federal funding to schools that support DEI efforts and include race in campus programming, such as advertising minority-focused scholarships or holding graduation ceremonies for cultural groups like Black and Latino students.
In addition to California universities, the investigations focus on public and private campuses in 40 states and Washington, D.C.
“Students must be evaluated based on their merit and accomplishments, not their skin color,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon stated. “We will not yield on this commitment.”
The California cases, as well as the vast majority of those nationally, focus on partnerships between the department’s campuses and the PhD Project, a nonprofit based in New Jersey that promotes “workplace diversity by increasing the diversity of business school faculty who encourage, mentor, and enhance the preparation of tomorrow’s leaders,” according to its website.
According to the Education Department, the nonprofit “purports to provide doctoral students with insights into obtaining a PhD and networking opportunities but limits eligibility based on the race of participants.”
UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof stated that the university has a “unwavering commitment to having a campus free of discrimination.” We will follow the DOE’s process for responding to any complaints or allegations.”
Amy Bentley-Smith, a spokeswoman for the California State University system, stated that “CSU has recently learned of the investigations and will be reviewing and seeking to understand the nature of the claim, and will cooperate with the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights in any investigation.”
The CSU continues to comply with long-standing federal and state laws, as well as CSU policies, and does not discriminate or provide preferences based on race, gender, color, ethnicity, or national origin.
A spokeswoman for the PhD Project stated in a statement that applications are now “open to anyone.” The spokesperson did not respond to a question about when the change happened.
“For the last 30 years, The PhD Project has worked to expand the pool of workplace talent by developing business school faculty who inspire, mentor, and support tomorrow’s leaders,” said Vivian King, spokesperson for the organization.
“Our vision is to create a broader talent pipeline of current and future business leaders who are committed to excellence and to each other, through networking, mentorship, and unique events.”
The three California campuses, as well as many of the others under investigation, are listed on the organization’s website under the “university partner” section.
The website also lists dozens of other campuses that were not included in the department’s investigation, such as UCLA, USC, and Cal State Los Angeles.
Education Department officials did not respond to a request for more information on the discrimination allegations.
The announcement was sent on Friday by the department’s Office for Civil Rights, which is in charge of enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws.
As part of the massive Education Department layoffs this week, hundreds of civil rights attorneys were laid off, resulting in the closure of regional offices in San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago, Cleveland, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia.
The San Francisco office had 50 employees who handled the vast majority of cases for California. On Friday, department officials declined to answer a question about who would investigate the California campuses. Civil rights offices in Seattle, Denver, Kansas City, and Washington remain open.
The department also announced separate investigations into six universities over allegations of awarding “impermissible race-based scholarships” and one for allegedly “administering a program that segregates students on the basis of race.”
These universities include Grand Valley State University, Ithaca College, New England College of Optometry, the University of Alabama, the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, and the University of South Florida. The announcement also mentioned the University of Tulsa School of Medicine, which does not exist.
The department did not specify which of the seven schools was being investigated for alleged racial segregation.
The investigations are the first since the Trump administration sent a letter to all US universities and school districts a month ago informing them that using “race in decisions pertaining to admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life” violates anti-discrimination law.
The guidance issued on February 14 did not announce a new law. Instead, it outlined the Trump administration’s interpretation of existing law.
Schools across the country have rushed to comply, closing DEI-related offices and positions and removing DEI language from their websites. At USC, a universitywide DEI office was closed and merged with a “culture” team.
Departments removed online diversity statements. The School of Cinematic Arts removed websites that promoted a scholarship for Black and Indigenous students.
On February 28, the Education Department reversed some of its guidance, stating that not all diversity programs were illegal.
“Schools must consider whether any school programming discourages members of all races from attending, either by excluding or discouraging students of a particular race or races, or by creating hostile environments based on race for students who do participate,” the latest update to the department’s guidance stated.
Trump has stated that he wants to close the Education Department and has directed McMahon to “put herself out of a job,” but this would require congressional approval.
Meanwhile, federal education officials have focused on anti-DEI efforts, prohibiting transgender students from participating on girls’ sports teams and investigating antisemitism allegations stemming from campus protests following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s war in Gaza.
Federal agencies are negotiating with Columbia University after the Trump administration canceled $400 million in federal grants due to the campus’ handling of pro-Palestinian protests.
Separately, Trump administration officials are seeking to deport Columbia foreign students accused of supporting Hamas — a US-designated terrorist group — for their participation in pro-Palestinian protests.
Following the high-profile arrest Sunday of Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student and Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia protests last spring, authorities arrested a second person who participated in the campus demonstrations and revoked another student’s visa.
The Education Department announced Monday that 60 additional campuses are being investigated for potential financial sanctions similar to those imposed on Columbia.
They included four UC campuses—San Diego, Santa Barbara, Berkeley, and Davis—as well as USC, Pomona College, Stanford, Chapman University, Santa Monica College, and Sacramento State.
A multiagency antisemitism task force plans to visit ten campuses in the United States, including USC, UCLA, and UC Berkeley, and the Department of Justice launched an investigation this month into a “potential pattern” of antisemitic discrimination against University of California system employees.
The task force has also requested meetings with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and the mayors of New York, Chicago, and Boston to discuss their “responses to incidents of antisemitism at schools and on college campuses.”
