After many months of intense discussion and reflection involving multiple stakeholders across and beyond the university, the University of Michigan is moving forward with important changes to its diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
The changes, outlined in a March 27 email message from university leaders to the Ann Arbor and Michigan Medicine communities, include closing the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion as well as discontinuing the DEI 2.0 Strategic Plan. The changes are effective immediately.
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In the months ahead, the university will shift resources to increase investments in student-facing programs, such as financial aid, mental health resources, pre-professional counseling and other efforts that strengthen community, promote a sense of belonging and expand accessibility.
“These decisions have not been made lightly. We recognize the changes are significant and will be challenging for many of us, especially those whose lives and careers have been enriched by and dedicated to programs that are now pivoting,” said the message, signed by President Santa J. Ono; Laurie K. McCauley, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs; Marschall S. Runge, executive vice president for medical affairs; and Geoffrey S. Chatas, executive vice president and chief financial officer.
“We are deeply grateful for the meaningful contributions of leaders, faculty and staff who have advanced our ongoing efforts to create an ever-more inclusive and respectful community.”
The message recognized important progress since the launch of the DEI strategic plan in 2016. First-generation undergraduate students, for example, have increased 46% and undergraduate Pell recipients have increased by more than 32%, driven in part by the success of programs such as Go Blue Guarantee and Wolverine Pathways.
“Over the course of our strategic efforts, we have heard strong pride in the university’s support for student-facing programs,” the message said. “We have also heard concerns about the balance of resources between administration and direct student support. Some in our campus community have voiced frustration that they did not feel included in DEI initiatives and that the programming fell short in fostering connections among diverse groups.”
As part of ongoing assessments, McCauley convened a special committee last year, co-sponsored by the vice president for government relations and chief diversity officer, which brought together deans, faculty and staff to review the structural aspects of U-M’s DEI efforts.
After leadership and board discussions, the executive vice presidents presented a plan to the Board of Regents, leading to further deliberation in tandem with the early months of the new presidential administration when executive orders and federal guidance — including several that broadly criticized DEI programs — began to reshape higher education. University leaders engaged national associations, policy advisers and others to navigate the implications of the federal directives, which have intensified.
The message announced additional actions, including the following:
- All units will evaluate their web presence to reflect the status of the current programmatic directions and for compliance with federal executive orders and guidance.
- The decision to end the use of diversity statements in faculty hiring, which was made earlier this academic year, will be applied universitywide; and statements related to a person’s commitment to DEI will no longer be solicited or considered in admissions, hiring, promotion, awards, annual reviews or other assessments for faculty and staff.
- Individual leads, who have supported DEI efforts in schools, colleges and units, will refocus their full effort on their core responsibilities.
- The Office of the General Counsel will initiate an expedited review to ensure all policies, programs and practices comply with federal law and guidance.
“We remain committed to fostering an environment that values and supports every member of our community and honors diverse backgrounds, perspectives and experiences,” the message from leaders said. “In the months ahead, the university will increase investments in student-facing programs.”
These investments include:
- Expanding financial aid: As previously announced, the Go Blue Guarantee has been expanded to benefit all families with an income of $125,000 or less. Other ways to further reduce the cost of attendance will be explored.
- Enhancing mental health support: Mental health resources will be increased to better support all students.
- Expanding the Blavin Scholars Program: Given its exceptional impact, a plan will be developed to expand this program to serve even more students.
- Strengthening academic success: U-M will explore ways to enhance student success through improved advising, counseling and pre-professional guidance, as well as continue investing in innovative approaches, such as 24/7 AI tutors and a personal AI assistant for every member of the community.
- Fostering community and belonging: U-M will seek opportunities to expand student life programs that strengthen community, promote a sense of belonging and expand accessibility.
- Preserving key student spaces: The university remains committed to maintaining vital student spaces, including the Trotter Multicultural Center, the Spectrum Center and various multicultural spaces in residence halls, all of which are open to all students.
- Celebrating cultural and ethnic programs: Cultural and ethnic events that enrich our campus and foster a vibrant, inclusive environment will continue to be supported.
“These efforts underscore our commitment to prioritizing student-facing initiatives and ensuring resources are directed where they will have the greatest impact,” the message said. “We stand steadfast in our dedication to academic freedom, freedom of speech and freedom of expression, and to lifting the distinct, ineffable potential of every individual in our community.”
Sam Ankenbauer
Wow, a “personal AI assistant for every member of the community,” how helpful and meaningful. Just what the doctor ordered. Thank you. How exciting. That made me forget about the rest of this missive.
Dan Green
Interestingly, the Record article leaves these two critical points out that are ending:
The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI) and the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion (OHEI) will close. Student-facing services in ODEI will shift to other offices focused on student access and opportunity.
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.
Aaron Saarela
Is is too much to ask for the University to stand up for what is right and not kiss the ring? DoGE made the administration tremble. Why do we have these ‘leaders’ in place if they’re not going to stand up for the University and what it represents? So cowardly and shameful.
Times and governments will change but this disgrace will linger. It puts a lie to all the talk of diversity being a priority at the University. What’s next, Title 9? Equal Protection?
“We stand steadfast in our dedication to academic freedom, freedom of speech and freedom of expression…”, but only when it’s convenient and doesn’t cost us anything.
What a joke.
Annette Vincent
Most disappointed. The University blinked. Academic freedom must be protected.
Jeffrey Lazar
Sadly, my double alma mater has not learned anything from what has happened to Columbia University in NYC. This will only be the beginning of the woe that will rain down on “The U” from Washington.
Pamela Wiedenbeck
As a donor with multiple endowed scholarships, I understand the reasons behind this. I am working with the various entities that benefit from our endowments. I do not necessarily agree with the way it is being imposed.
Our endowments support causes and programs that made both my husband and i successful at Michigan. It is important that all donors work with their UofM contacts to make sure that their wishes can be restated appropriately in this environment.
Pam Wiedenbeck, BS Physics, 1971; Martha Cook Resident 1969-1971
James Forman
I am happy to learn that the administration of the University is committing to follow the Federal Executive direction to cease hiring, student admissions, financial aid and other key offerings based solely on diversity factors. However, there is nothing in the statement that gives any confidence that individual merit, by way of scholastic measurements, or other performance criteria will replace the discriminatory practices the University has been employing to allocate funds, educational opportunity, or to make curriculum decisions. Time will tell if anything will change for the better.
Clark Miller
I am not surprised that Michigan caved in to the Trump extortion. The University of Michigan has never been committed to diversity. My most treasured possession from my days at the University of Michigan is the BAM poster that I marched under in 1970. The U of M administration fought against the Black Action Movement in 1970. They are “just following orders” from Trump today.
Beth Rakow
The DEI program, the largest in the country, has been inefficient for several years. The extent of the ineffectiveness and wasted resources was well known. The UM program was specifically called out in both the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Unfortunately, it took an ugly DOGE intervention to help right the ship. Hopefully, the replacement alternatives will be more helpful and meaningful.
David Anderson
“Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.”
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
MLK is smiling at the idea that UM DEI programs will no longer force white people to hate themselves for being born into “white privilege”.
Perhaps a focus on merit can return the university to “leaders and the best”, regardless of skin color, pronouns or sexual identity.
Courtney Crim
As we were informed in medical school at Michigan, “The patient is the one with the disease.” If white people hate themselves for being born into “white privilege,” then they’re the ones with the problem. DEI does not imply that anyone should hate themselves. Only the uninformed or those who have been led to believe the lies about DEI, have adopted that viewpoint.
David Anderson
So in a meeting where the black woman HR rep tells a white male “you’re too white” (yes, this really happened) I’m supposed to believe being white is a good thing? BS
Derek Peterson
The idea that this new policy was adopted “after many months of intense discussion and reflection involving multiple stakeholders” obscures a key fact: this change was sprung upon the UM community by an upper administration. There was no consultation with any representative body of faculty government.
Elizabeth Smith
Is it Hail or Heil? Crestfallen and disgusted.
David Zubl
Our administration is trying to navigate a way forward in ridiculous circumstances. Over one billion federal dollars are at stake, the loss of which puts jobs, life-saving research, and student aid at risk. Reading President Ono’s email and the linked federal directives carefully, it is obvious they are trying to preserve what they can while remaining legally compliant.
Neda Dorjath
Many months of discussion? I doubt that. My beloved school has bowed down and kissed the ring or kissed something else. Yes, money is at stake. I get that. But to get the money, you sold your soul.
Charles Schneider
Seems like common sense has prevailed
Courtney Crim
Sadly, the University has caved in to Trump’s executive orders. It’s unfortunate when the University, or anyone, is unwilling to stand up for what they believe is the right thing to do. The last I checked Congress has not passed a law banning DEI. If the University thought it was “right” in 2016, nothing has changed other than Trump being elected. Dollars trumps righteousness for many people and institutions; aways have, and always will.
As a donor who initiated two endowed scholarships/awards to support underserved students/communities, I will definitely check to make certain that has not changed, otherwise I will take necessary action.
Sara Denbo
Pre-capitulation is cowardice. What happened to Michigan fighting to do the right thing in Grutter and Gratz? I am appalled at this institution’s unwillingness to fight back. Michigan claims to be an elite institution, claims to be “Leaders and Best.” In fact, the University of Michigan claims to espouse a set of six values: https://culturejourney.umich.edu/values/
Integrity. Respect. Inclusion. Equity. Diversity. Innovation.
This institution failed to inform it’s community that these values were up for negotiation, that’s it’s support of women, people of color, the LGBTQ+ community and more would only be maintained so long as it wasn’t detrimental to their bottom line. The University of Michigan has chosen to squander its privilege and reputation by succumbing to partisan politics rather than embodying anything it claims to stand for.
Wyatt Childress
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
Myles Zhang
To quote from the university’s new directive:
“All units will evaluate their web presence to reflect the status of the current programmatic directions and for compliance with federal executive orders and guidance.”
The kind of words we are allowed to say – in-person or through our university’s “web presence” – limit the realities we can can describe. How can we do something about how 5% of U-M’s students are black in a state where 13% of the population is black without using the words “inclusion.” How can do something about how black males have a life expectancy 3-5 years less than white males without using the words “healthy equity.” How can we begin to create a university whose population mirrors the economic and social diversity of this nation without using the words “diversity.”
“First they came for the socialists…” describes the historical reality of 1930s Germany sliding into fascism. Another way to phrase this might be: “First they came for our words…” – for the most important tool we have as scholars to describe the realities around us.
To create a university whose actions “bend towards justice” first requires a toolkit of language to describe the injustices of our current reality. The language of DEI, however imperfect, was one part of this toolkit.
Warren Prelesnik
I find it hard to believe that the great University of Michigan would cave to the Trump administration and dump the DEI programs. If our universities across the country, including Colombia, don’t stand up for what is right along with our courts, we are in deep trouble. Money cannot be the only criteria for everything in life. We have already lost half of the Congress. We can’t afford to lose other freedom supporting institutions.
Esther Newton
I am not surprised. The dominos are falling, after Columbia’s shameful capitulation. I have lived a long life and witnessed quite a few shameful and/or wrongheaded or both episodes in American life, including our politics, starting with the Vietnam War, which was also protested on campuses, only more so. But the ubiquity of the garbage ideas that are now floating around like toxic drones, including now at the U of M, is startling.
Jared Rowan
I’m graduating next year and I felt proud that I was a soon-to-be U of M alum.
That changed today.
Roy Clarke
Appeasement rarely works, if ever.
James Conrad
A temporary tactic.
Theodore Callam
Unfortunate. I thought education was supposed to instill growth, not an abandonment of principles and values, as The University has just done. Whether it’s millions of dollars or 30 pieces of silver the effect is the same… selling out.
Charissa Ebersole
I used to be proud to have worked at the University of Michigan.
James Conrad
I am not sure where you work now or where you worked prior but living in a deeply red state and knowing the history and mission of UM, gives me hope that we will get around this upheaval.
James Conrad
On the surface, this appears to be somewhat of a sellout with regard to offices and policies. But on the defensive side of matters, we are dealing with a mob boss and an organization that has the pursestrings on 100s of millions of dollars in real money that support the mission of the University. As an out of state stakeholder, we have 6 degrees in our immediate family and multiple endowed scholarships for undergraduate students. Inclusion is baked into the DNA and fabric of this University and one has to live elsewhere in this country and study educational history since the Civil War to realize that Michigan is going nowhere with regard to its traditional stands. These upheavals are nationwide in education, health care and economics and it takes a strategy to navigate around the assaults of this current administration on upper level learning and exploration that should be open to all. Voicing dissent and disagreement is certainly good and necessary but developing a way through this takes perseverance and clever tactics.
Jim Conrad ’77 ’80 ’84
Lucy Reuben
‘We’re in the Midst of an Authoritarian Takeover:‘ Lee Bollinger on Trump, Columbia, and why capitulation won’t work,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 11, 2025.
“Courts have afforded universities important protections because they are part of the bedrock of American values, reflected in the Constitution. Universities need to articulate that special role and defend it. …. We’re in the midst of an authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government. It’s been coming and coming, and not everybody is prepared to read it that way. The characters regarded as people to emulate, like Orbán and Putin and so on, all indicate that the strategy is to create an illiberal democracy or an authoritarian democracy or a strongman democracy. That’s what we’re experiencing. Our problem in part is a failure of imagination. We cannot get ourselves to see how this is going to unfold in its most frightening versions. You neutralize the branches of government; you neutralize the media; you neutralize universities, and you’re on your way.”
It is a sad day for the Michigan brand when there is no defense of the Leadership and Best.