Rutgers Nixes HBCU Summit Under Trump Anti-DEI Order
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Rutgers University has canceled an HBCU conference after the issuing of anti-DEI executive orders by President Donald Trump.
The administration of President Donald Trump sent out a flurry of executive orders with the intent of eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs last week. Its effect was immediately seen at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey last Friday (January 24) as its Graduate School of Education’s Center for Minority Serving Institutions announced it was canceling its HBCUs and Registered Apprenticeship Mini Virtual Conference in a post on Instagram.
“We were very excited to bring you the HBCUs and Registered Apprenticeship Mini-Conference next week—an event designed to amplify the voices of HBCU leaders and students planned by our team,” the post began. The event was set to take place on Thursday (January 30), but two executive orders from Trump – “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,” and “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” – meant they had to “cease all work” at the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility HUB at Jobs for the Future because they rely on federal funding.
The orders, signed last Monday and Tuesday, call for the federal government to terminate “all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government.” According to NorthJersey.com, the second of the orders makes it a broader program, directing “all executive departments and agencies to terminate all discriminatory and illegal preferences, mandates, policies, programs, activities, guidance, regulations, enforcement actions, consent orders, and requirements.”
The news brought swift condemnation from Newark Mayor Ras Baraka in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday (January 25). “Rutgers, and any other schools preemptively pulling DEI programming, is an utter failure of courage in the face of political foolishness,” Baraka wrote. “Diversity, equity, and inclusion are not just buzzwords — they are proven strategies that make our workplaces more productive, our students more learned, and our economy stronger and more stable.” Baraka, who is also running for governor of the state, concluded: “Rutgers should not feel alone in the face of this bully. I call on all private sector partners, responsible corporations, and those who believe in democracy to stand with our institutions against the threat of defunding.”
