A “Dear Colleague” letter issued by the Department of Education has attorneys scrambling to help educational institutions comply with a new policy that deems diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs a form of illegal discrimination.
The latest “Dear Colleague” letter was released by the Department of Education late Friday, declaring that DEI programs are illegal and giving schools two weeks to bring their programs into compliance or face the loss of federal funding. The letter comes on the heels of a series of changes that have rocked the education industry in recent months and is the latest in a surge of directives from the Trump administration aimed at eliminating DEI programs, which has higher education bracing for an uncertain future.
