With continuously changing opinions around diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and its implications for college campuses around the United States, many institutions are redefining or ridding their campus of DEI initiatives completely.
The United States Supreme Court’s rulings on Jun. 29, 2023 surrounding affirmative action set a precedent for current changes to college applications and other initiatives surrounding increasing access to higher education for systematically disadvantaged groups.
At DU and many schools alike, the institution will now no longer supply DEI training to its staff and have ended scholarships and programs aimed exclusively at specific racial groups. Most of these changes were done out of fear of losing federal funding due to resistance to the Department of Justice’s requests to phase out DEI practices.
As a first year history major at DU, it has been interesting to experience these DEI rollbacks almost immediately after they happened. My transition to DU began just as they had announced on Aug. 19, 2025 that the school was going to comply with the DOJ’s determination that DEI programs are a form of unlawful discrimination.
While more covertly, I have seen these changes all around campus. Whether it be a lack of advertising for specific clubs or organizations around campus or an overall “hush” surrounding the conversation of DEI.
Furthermore, I have experienced upperclassmen students discussing programs and events at DU that no longer exist, like the HerDU conference which held workshops and guest speakers discussing leadership in the context of inclusivity and diversity. Out of fear of potential lawsuits or threats from the DOJ, the HerDU conference was last held in 2024, and is now branded as a separate, smaller event without an emphasis on women and gender.
For example, the DU’s Cultural Center was forced to close down after threats to its funding and staffing, and has been renamed Community Connections. While the space is still there, it is no longer majorly occupied by students on campus, reflecting a very obvious shift away from diversity initiatives at DU.
At the DU Black Student Alliance (BSA) archive gallery, we discussed how in the past, DU had a Black Cultural Center. Despite denial of such facts, various alumni and DU publishings in physical versions of The Clarion from the 1970s confirm its prior existence. We learned how the Cultural Center had its origins as the Black Cultural Center, furthering the disappointment following its rebranding.
These changes matter because it is frightening to see a dangerous repetition of removing initiatives meant to increase diversity around campus. Despite DU’s promise to its students to continue upholding a focus towards inclusivity on campus, there is a very obvious change in the culture of the school, and its handling of the already small population of BIPOC students on campus.
