TLDR:
- Only 19 universities have complied with Trump administration demands to remove diversity essays, while hundreds continue using them despite federal threats
- Justice Department warns of “significant consequences” and has opened dozens of investigations into top universities for discrimination
- Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon says schools “thumbing their nose” at federal law will face funding cuts
- Yale, Harvard and Duke among elite institutions openly defying the policy, with experts predicting most colleges will continue the practice
Most universities are defying the Trump administration’s ban on diversity-themed essays in student applications, ignoring threats of federal funding cuts and investigations.
About 19 campuses removed or reworded diversity essay prompts this fall after the Justice Department invoked a Supreme Court ruling against race-based admissions. Hundreds of others made no changes, according to admissions consultants and education experts.
Yale, Harvard and Duke are among institutions that still ask applicants to reflect on personal identity topics in optional or required essays.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said her office is monitoring admissions and expects compliance.
“The Civil Rights Division has dozens of active investigations into the nation’s top universities for discrimination in admissions,” Ms. Dhillon said. “Schools that thumb their nose at federal anti-discrimination statutes will be investigated and face significant consequences.”
But several higher education leaders predicted most universities will continue using diversity essays despite the warnings.
“College administrators, in general, still see diversity as an overall good,” said Ronald Rychlak, a former associate law school dean at the University of Mississippi. “So I expect them to work to keep it as a factor.”
Read more:
• Most universities ignore Trump administration’s ban on diversity-themed admission essays
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