Stanford to Review DEI Programs After Trump Order, Spurring Anxiety in Students

Stanford University is planning to review and potentially modify or suspend programs focused on promoting diversity, equity and inclusion a few days after President Trump signed an executive order targeting DEI initiatives in universities.

“We’re going to need to review programs on campus that fall under the DEI heading, and it’s likely that some will need to be modified or sunsetted,” Stanford President Jonathan Levin said during a Faculty Senate meeting on Thursday, according to the university’s official news site.

Trump’s order calls on federal agencies to investigate schools that allegedly promote “illegal DEI discrimination” and directs officials to look specifically into universities with endowments of over $1 billion — Stanford’s endowment in 2023 was over $36 billion. The order also calls on the attorney general and the secretary of education to provide universities with guidance on how to comply with the regulations.

Sophie Walton, a graduate student who is involved in DEI initiatives on campus, said Stanford’s announcement has resulted in a lot of confusion and anxiety in students. Walton said some of her peers are worried about federal funding cuts and whether their programs or research could be jeopardized.

Walton said she doesn’t know why Stanford decided to make a statement so soon. Some of Trump’s executive orders have already been challenged in court, and no enforcement mechanisms have been introduced for the ones that have not been, Walton said.

“It’s very disappointing to see that Stanford is already acting to comply with the executive order instead of waiting until we get more information about what’s going on,” Walton said.

DEI initiatives have come under fire in the past, Walton said in reference to the crackdown on affirmative action in 2023 that prohibited schools from making race-based considerations during admissions. Students of color and women still face barriers to success at Stanford, and programs that foster inclusive environments are critical to combatting those obstacles, she added.

Walton, who works with the graduate student union to address issues of discrimination, said programs that uphold DEI practices make the campus environment more welcoming and safe for everyone. She said some of these practices include providing students and faculty with recourse in the case of discrimination.

Other policies are more geared toward ensuring that every student has the opportunity to excel in the field of their choice regardless of background, she said.

“Trump’s language often focuses on meritocracy, this magical vision of meritocracy, and that is often coded for racism and misogyny,” Walton continued. “It’s the opposite of meritocracy when you eliminate DEI programs. … The point of many of these programs is to make sure that people are able to experience Stanford to the full extent of their abilities.”

While the initiative that Walton is involved in has not yet been affected by the order, she said the possibility is there.

The university has not made any official statements on which programs will be under consideration, but a review group is being convened.

“The university is not meant to be a small ship tacking wildly because of the changes in the political winds,” Levin said during the Faculty Senate meeting. “The university has an enduring purpose to foster knowledge and to educate students, and that purpose is not fundamentally political. It’s intended to endure through political changes.”

Should federal agencies begin to enforce Trump’s directive, Walton said there are ways for universities such as Stanford to work around the order. Explicitly inclusive language could be reworded to instead focus on finding “unique perspectives” and hard workers, she said, as one way of appeasing federal officials while still protecting DEI efforts.

KQED’s Sara Hossaini contributed to this report.