One of President Trump’s first actions upon taking office was to issue an executive order protecting civil rights by terminating discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies in the federal government. This directive includes organizations receiving federal tax dollars. Virginia colleges and universities have indicated they are falling in line with the directive—announcing the elimination of DEI offices—but are they truly ending racist DEI practices?

Media outlets across the state and nation claim DEI is dead in Virginia colleges and universities. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) even declared “Discriminatory DEI policies are being dismantled across Virginia’s colleges and universities.” Yet our research tells a different story—some schools just want it to appear they’ve abolished DEI.

Virginia Tech (VT) President Timothy Sands—a Berkeley-trained educator—spoke to students and staff on the topic of DEI on April 4th. Sands claimed the Trump DEI directives are based on interpretations of the law, not the law itself, and that views have shifted due to political climate. He also said, “We want our students to be politically active and engaged” and would love to hear “if there is something we can do to facilitate that engagement.” Sands seemed to be using his position as the college President to encourage students to become activists against the executive order.

“Progressive” university leaders clearly don’t want to comply.

DEI Continues at Virginia’s Public Universities

VIRGINIA TECH

In March, the VT Board of Visitors passed a resolution ensuring the school adheres to civil rights laws against discrimination and dissolving the Office of Inclusive Strategy and Excellence in compliance with the Trump order. President Sands said publicly that he doesn’t like the resolution passed by the Board of Visitors.

In 2023, VT required incoming students to complete a racist DEI training module prior to admission. It taught students they were either oppressors or oppressed depending on their race or privileged status. “Privileged groups typically have power over oppressed groups,”the training instructed, and “even if you think you don’t personally have power, you may still be participating in structural systems of power where you receive advantages.” Students also had to complete an exercise to answer questions about how to spot “privilege.”

Slide from mandatory training for new Virginia Tech students

Restoration News reached out to Virginia Tech to find out whether this training has been removed as a requirement of admissions—we received no response.

Regardless, VT continues with divisive DEI affinity groups and agendas, including “InclusiveVT” which solicits “letters from the Social Justice Mountain” and “contributors representing a range of identities” to “resist this erasure through personal letters, appealing to higher education to address head-on the challenges to institutional equity.” Radical DEI advocate Menah Pratt, whose salary is $451,000, heads up InclusiveVT and is also the Vice President for Strategic Affairs and Diversity in the School of Education. President Sands praised Pratt’s work and said InclusiveVT only works if it is “embedded in everything we do.”

VT’s economics department continues to promote DEI initiatives which include “working to expand representation of historically underrepresented groups through active faculty recruitment and involvement through Virginia Tech’s Future Faculty Diversity Program.” The website reveals their efforts to track goals of actively recruiting a “broader range of students.”

(How does your state’s education system stack up? Find out at www.RestoringEdu.com)

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

The University of Virginia (UVA) announced it was shuttering its DEI office on March 7, but there’s no indication they’re actually removing race-based and divisive practices.

UVA’s DEI website is still active and refers students to a variety of resources that do not align with President Trump’s executive order against discrimination. UVA still advertises student affinity groups supported by the university including one called the Critical Whiteness Study Group. Their website states:

“Together this research is built on the explicit connection between how whites operate under white supremacy and how that operation then impacts people of Color . . . [We must] research the inextricable tie between the liberation of whites and that of people of Color.”

Another UVA affinity group, “LovEd,” promotes “professional development for K12 teachers to provide age-appropriate gender identity development.” UVA’s School of Education is ranked as one of the best in the nation and it’s pushing radical gender ideology onto children.

UVA still promotes SEEDS for Change (Students of Education Engaged in Diversity Scholarship) whose mission is to “continuously reflect on our own biases, cultural assumptions, and dimensions of privilege while demanding the same of the School of Education” and “critically audit for, and uncover, normative power dynamics and advocate for equity and social justice”

The UVA Psychology Department promotes a toolkit for “anti-racism resources for white people” to help “recognize their privilege and identify opportunities to engage in anti-racist action.”

VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY

VCU announced closure of its’ DEI office on March 21 but is still pushing DEI by “promoting and fostering a climate of diversity, inclusion and equity.” Their English Department still pledges to:

QUOTE create a department composed of faculty with diverse cultural and educational backgrounds. Together, we seek to overcome long-standing inequities in our disciplinary areas by fostering a faculty attentive to both historical and current forms of exclusion and privilege. /QUOTE

VCU has a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Action Framework which calls for social action on “anti-racist policies and the Black Lives Matter movement.” They also have an Inclusion Council that has a “campus-wide Inclusions Dashboard to track and refine metrics.”

VIRGINIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM

There is one higher ed institution that appears to be following the executive order. The Virginia Community College System—which includes 23 colleges—claims it removed racist DEI programs and practices, not just its DEI office. They announced the removal of race-based hiring goals and elimination of their “diversity, equity, inclusion and culture” advisory council. A glance at community colleges across the state indicates they’re not attempting to circumvent the executive order, and no divisive practices were found.

VCU, VT, UVA, and possibly other Virginia colleges and universities are gambling with a potential loss of federal funding.

What’s at Risk for Noncompliance?

On Feb. 14th, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon issued a letter to schools and colleges across the nation directing an end to racist practices or face penalties. McMahon said, “If an educational institution treats a person of one race differently than it treats another person because of that person’s race, the educational institution violates the law.” She further indicated the Education Department will vigorously enforce the law and noncompliance could lead to loss of funding.

Those schools violating the executive order risk a lot to continue illegal, divisive practices. Woke universities receive significant federal taxpayer dollars. According to USA Spending, in just the last year, UVA was awarded over $100 million, VCU $213 million, and VT $70 million in federal grants and direct payments from the U.S. Department of Education. VT President Sands claimed the school receives $550 million per year in federal funding.

Public universities are trying to portray compliance with President Trump’s executive order by claiming their DEI departments have been eliminated, while still pushing a divisive DEI agenda. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin encouraged these universities to comply, but they’ve snubbed their noses at him and threw up a smokescreen. Gov. Youngkin and U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon need to take a hard look at Virginia schools refusing to comply. These schools must end discriminatory practices and institute merit-based opportunities.

Otherwise, yank their funding.