Higher education groups sue Trump over anti-diversity executive orders | Trump administration

Higher education groups, including college professors and university diversity officers, are suing the Trump administration over its executive orders eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) positions in government and the president’s threats to suspend funding to institutions because of their DEI policies.

Education officers and organizations are teaming up with non-profits and local governments to challenge the executive orders. The basis of the lawsuit filed on Monday is the stance that Trump’s orders violate the US constitution.

“There’s two fundamental layers to this,” Todd Wolfson, president of American Association of University Professors (AAUP),said. “One is that we must push back against serious political intrusion into higher education because it must maintain its own independence.”

“The second level is the core layers of importance that DEI plays in higher education. It’s about making sure that higher education is accessible to everyone, and also making sure that we teach and emphasize issues that have been, in many ways, hidden in the past.”

The suit, filed in the US district court in Maryland, claims that the orders have already caused confusion and disruptions on college campuses.

“In the United States, there is no king,” the suit says. “The President can exercise only those powers the Constitution grants to the executive, and only in ways that do not violate the rights the Constitution grants to the American people.

“In his crusade to erase diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility from our country, President Trump cannot usurp Congress’s exclusive power of the purse, nor can he silence those who disagree with him by threatening them with the loss of federal funds and other enforcement actions.”

The American Association of University Professors and the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, along with other groups, argue that Trump’s orders exceed executive legal authority. They also allege that the orders violate both the first and fifth amendments and threaten academic freedom and access to higher education for everyone.

Trump’s orders on DEI mandate that the Department of Education and other agencies must recommend measures to encourage an end to what they call “illegal discrimination and preferences, including DEI”.

Paulette Granberry Russell, the president and CEO of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, said in a statement to the Guardian that this lawsuit is a “necessary stand against unconstitutional overreach and political interference”.

“These executive orders directly attack free speech, academic freedom, and the fundamental principles of diversity, equity and inclusion, values that are essential to a strong democracy and a thriving, globally competitive workforce,” she said.

“This legal challenge is a necessary step to prevent further erosion of equity-based programs.”

The president has threatened civil investigations and significant cuts to funding for schools if the institutions fail to comply, which would probably result in further depleting resources for many areas of research, including health.

Wolfson explained how the recent federal funding freeze already had an impact on institutional studies: “At this moment, the freeze is affecting primary research on health issues like cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and heart disease. This is research that the health of Americans is dependent on.”

The plaintiffs involved in this DEI case are represented by Democracy Forward, the same legal group that was able to successfully challenge the federal funding freeze.

“This is about the future of democracy in this country,” Wolfson said. “One of the many things that fascist administrations do when they’re taking power is they go in and try to take control of higher education.”

He added: “We will fight it every step of the way, legally, politically, and our members will be out in the street pushing back. There’s no way we will let them undermine higher education in this country.”