AAUP President: ED's Office of Civil Rights Has Declared War on American Civil Rights in Education

In a letter released last Friday, the acting assistant secretary for the US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights threatened to annihilate sixty years of advancements in equal opportunity by eliminating all federal funding for schools that support and celebrate students from diverse backgrounds. This wildly broad overreach is the latest blatant attempt by the Trump administration to punish educators, target communities of color, and undermine decades of hard-won progress toward a multiracial democracy.

Friday’s announcement intensifies this administration’s clampdown on speech and expression related to race and identity, moving beyond the censorship of ideas into a war on the civil rights era itself. Their cynical weaponizing of federal civil rights law serves the interests of ruling elites, not students.

Because it goes far beyond what federal statutes and Supreme Court case law mandate, the letter betrays the Trump administration’s goal of consolidating power and ruling by fiat, fear, and propaganda. The Trump administration’s many-pronged political intrusion into higher education is intended to frustrate the ability of universities and faculty to accomplish their educational and research missions.

For over fifty years, the AAUP has been fundamentally committed to ensuring that all students in all subjects are provided the full, fair, and honest education they deserve—that they have the freedom to learn. The AAUP holds that in order for colleges and universities to fulfill their public mission, they must endeavor not only to eliminate discrimination but to redress the persistent inequalities created by both past and present discriminatory practices and systems. As we noted in the statement On Eliminating Discrimination and Achieving Equality in Higher Education,  “discriminatory attacks on efforts to advance knowledge about race, gender, class, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability are inseparable from a larger and even more dangerous campaign against core academic values—including shared governance, academic freedom, and tenure—and learning itself.”

We must collectively stand up and defend what higher education is and does. The version of university life depicted in the letter is a gross distortion intended to undermine the public’s faith and confidence in colleges and universities. In fact, education is not toxic indoctrination that smuggles illicit topics into the classroom. It is a process of inviting students to reflect on what we think we know. College teachers and staff already welcome and support all students on our campuses. Contrary to the caricature on display in the “Dear Colleague” letter, we take our responsibility to educate extremely seriously.

In US history, many students have been excluded from a full and fair education and the benefits that derive from it. Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives exist to provide a fair shake in US society for those who have, for the majority of this country’s existence, been denied equal access to higher education, high-paying jobs, and just and fair treatment under the law. 

In a naked effort at gaslighting, the acting assistant secretary’s letter acknowledges “a darker period in this country’s history” but tacitly equates  the Jim Crow era to a graduation ceremony that uplifts students’ accomplishments—despite the fact that only 26.2 percent of Black Americans over the age of 25 have completed a bachelor’s degree, compared to 34.8 percent of all Americans, according to US Census Bureau estimates.

Trump and his cronies, through threats and intimidation, are dead set on returning to a world where they enjoyed unfettered preferential treatment. They are commandeering Congress’s power of the purse to harden and preserve their own inequitable advantages. We must refuse. 

In the face of these assaults on education and civil rights, students and faculty nationwide are organizing in their communities. Join us. The way to confront those intent on dismantling our democracy is to join together in mass action. 

We must vigorously oppose the assault on our education, research, healthcare, and jobs. Join the AAUP and Higher Education Labor United on Wednesday, February 19, and throughout the winter and spring for mass actions to fight for an education system that serves all of us and a robust, inclusive democracy.