As President Donald Trump has attacked diversity, equity and inclusion efforts nationwide, Emory University announced Wednesday that it will discontinue its DEI programs and offices.
In a message to the Emory community, interim president Leah Ward Sears wrote that the decision was because of federal laws and mandates “that require higher education institutions to alter fundamentally or even close offices and programs focused on DEI.”
“The standards are clear, and we must act accordingly,” Sears wrote.
Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
The message did not specify which offices would be affected. Emory’s website includes a “Diversity” page that lists multiple relevant offices, including the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, the Department of Accessibility Services, as well as a group titled Belonging and Community Justice.
It was not immediately clear how many employees could be terminated as a result of the decision. Sears, an alumna of the school and the former chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, wrote that Emory will work with impacted employees “to provide appropriate support and assistance through the transition.” Emory declined to provide further comment.
Emory, the state’s largest private university, had previously embraced diversity efforts, winning the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award from Insight Into Diversity magazine for three years in a row. Emory’s institutional statement on diversity reads, in part, “diversity is essential to advancing knowledge, addressing society’s most pressing issues, and attending to the full spectrum of human needs in service to the common good.”
In her message, Sears, who is Black, said she was someone “who has reaped the benefits of the needs these programs were meant to address,” adding that “they were created with the best of intentions and staffed by talented, committed professionals.”
The decision comes months after a July leadership change when the university announced that a number of deans would be leaving their roles. That included Enku Gelaye, senior vice president and dean of Campus Life, and Kristina Bethea Odejimi, associate vice president for belonging, engagement and community and dean of students.
Since taking office in January, Trump has issued multiple executive orders targeting DEI programs, calling them illegal. One such order said that universities “have adopted and actively use dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-called ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ … that can violate the civil rights laws of this Nation.”
In late February, Georgia Tech, the state’s largest public university, announced it was reviewing its student support programs to ensure they cannot be construed as out of compliance with the federal mandates against DEI.
In her Wednesday message, Sears wrote that the university could follow the law without “losing sight of who we are.”
“Closing offices or reimagining lawful programs is not, after all, the same as ending our unwavering commitment to fairness, belonging and opportunity for all, values that are part of Emory’s DNA,” she wrote.
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