Trump Executive Order Ends Educational Equity Initiatives for Black, Hispanic, Indigenous Students
Credit: Christopher Furlong / Getty Images News / Getty Images- Among Trump’s first priorities was rescinding Biden-era initiatives aimed at underrepresented student groups.
- Working groups that encouraged cross-agency collaboration will likely be disbanded as a result.
- Notably, an initiative concerning HBCUs is not affected.
President Donald Trump’s Day 1 priorities included rescinding White House initiatives to advance educational equity among historically underrepresented student groups.
On Inauguration Day, Trump signed an executive order that revoked many orders signed by President Joe Biden over the past four years. Included were initiatives specifically aimed at strengthening Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) and tribal colleges and universities (TCUs).
“To commence the policies that will make our nation united, fair, safe, and prosperous again, it is the policy of the United States to restore common sense to the federal government and unleash the potential of the American citizen,” Trump said in a statement.
“The revocations within this order will be the first of many steps the United States federal government will take to repair our institutions and our economy.”
Trump’s order targets these education-related initiatives:
- White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics
- White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Native Americans and Strengthening Tribal Colleges and Universities
- White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans
- White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity Through Hispanic-Serving Institutions
These four initiatives are similar in scope and impact.
Essentially, they create committees aimed at advancing equity through higher education initiatives. For example, the executive order addressing HSIs called on the committee to make recommendations to improve the impact of HSIs and increase the number of HSI students preparing for careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields and teaching.
These initiatives also encouraged collaboration across federal agencies to advance these equity goals.
Trump’s reversal of these orders will likely disband the working groups and remove the executive director of each initiative.
Notably, Trump did not rescind the Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity through Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) initiative. This order did not come from Biden, but was instead signed by President Barack Obama in 2014. It created the HBCU Scholar Program.
Trump’s actions on Day 1 fall in line with much of his campaign rhetoric. He promised to end diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within the federal government.
It’s unclear, however, whether these actions foreshadow decreased funding for HBCUs, HSIs, and TCUs. These minority-serving institutions have historically been underfunded compared to predominantly white institutions.