Facing deadline to end DEI, Michigan schools ask crucial question: What is DEI?

• A federal memo says Michigan K-12 schools and colleges face the potential loss of federal funding if they don’t eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts
• Michigan leaders say it’s unclear how the federal government is defining DEI 
• The federal government announces portal for parents to report schools

At Warren Consolidated Schools, students who observe Ramadan will soon have the option to spend lunchtime in a different room than the cafeteria while they fast. 

Superintendent John Bernia thinks that’s an example of being responsive to the cultures of students and their families. But is it an example of diversity, equity and inclusion?

“If you ask 10 people what DEI is, you’ll get 10 different answers,” Bernia told Bridge Michigan this week.

Bernia is among thousands of superintendents and college leaders across the country scrambling to figure out how to respond to the Trump administration’s latest efforts to curb diversity, equity and inclusion practices. 

The Trump administration gave the schools until the end of the month to end diversity, equity and inclusion efforts or face potential federal funding cuts. 

But even with the threat of losing federal funding hanging over their heads, schools remain unclear on exactly what the federal government would consider diversity, equity and inclusion. 

There may be instances where employers try to recruit and retain a diverse workforce for their schools. By law, schools provide accommodations for students with disabilities that not every student receives. Schools have also taken steps to be more inclusive with how they teach American history. 

Some worry the lack of specificity will mean schools will self-censor and shy away from topics they believe students should be taught. Leaders say they are monitoring federal developments closely. Legal challenges are underway. 

On notice

The stakes are potentially high. The Trump administration warned schools in a Feb. 14 “Dear Colleague” letter that they could lose federal funding if they did not comply with the Trump administration’s interpretation of a 2023 Supreme Court ruling and federal civil rights laws. The letter alleges schools have “toxically indoctrinated students” with the idea that the US is based on “systemic and structural racism.” Further, schools have used DEI as a way to justify discrimination, the letter states.

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The letter came on the heels of executive orders signed by President Donald Trump aimed at limiting DEI. 

Ahead of the Friday compliance deadline, the Department of Education on Thursday launched an online “End DEI” portal for parents and others to report “illegal discriminatory practices at institutions of learning.”

“Parents, now is the time that you share the receipts of the betrayal that has happened in our public schools,” Tiffany Justice, co-founder of the parental rights organization Moms for Liberty, said in a news release announcing the portal. 

Education groups say the Feb. 14 letter from the US Department of Education is vague, and leaders of Michigan’s public universities and the Michigan Department of Education say they are confident schools already comply with anti-discrimination requirements. Still, with the potential loss of federal funding on the line, school leaders are reassessing to ensure they aren’t at risk.

The American Federation of Teachers and others filed a lawsuit this week urging a federal judge to deem the letter “unlawful and unconstitutional," and stop the Department of Education from enforcing the letter.

So, what is DEI anyway? 

Depends who you ask. 

Angelique Power, president and CEO of The Skillman Foundation, told Bridge equity “simply means those who need more get more.”

But she said these terms are sometimes interpreted incorrectly: when people hear the term equity, people think of “white people lose and others win,” she said.

“Equity I think has started to worry people like ‘Oh what do I have to give up? What do I have to lose?’ Because they don't actually understand that when you have more investment, you have better outcomes for everyone.”

She said that by centering a plan around those who need the most help, other folks with less need get lifted along the way.

Shannon Ciecko, chair of the Wayne County chapter of Moms for Liberty, told Bridge she does not get hung up on definitions but “I don’t understand why it’s needed in the schools,” Ciecko said. “We should just stick to basics.”

Ciecko told Bridge she is learning more about DEI through M4LU, the Moms for Liberty education series that includes speakers, book clubs and watch parties. 

Ciecko said many parents likely do not know about the Department of Education letter but could find it a helpful tool if they need to talk to their local district about issues they have with instruction their student receives.

In recent years, some parents have rallied against how Michigan schools address the topic of race in the classroom. Citing concerns from constituents, some Republicans supported efforts in 2022 to ban promoting “race or gender stereotyping,” or teaching that the US “is a fundamentally racist country.” These bills did not become law. 

Dorinda Carter Andrews, a professor of race, culture and educational equity at Michigan State University, said DEI programs are not designed to teach people that “one racial group is somehow more evil than another,” but to “help people understand that inequality is real.” 

“They all work to ensure people’s civil rights are upheld, their human rights are upheld, but it’s not like DEI is some one concept,” Carter Andrews said. 

How are Michigan K-12 schools responding? 

Educators last week told Bridge they worried the “Dear Colleague” letter would censor teachers who are weary of getting in the crossfire. 

Carter Andrews said generally schools fall into two camps: staying the course or  “panicking and being reactive” by cleaning websites or titles of references to DEI. 

The Michigan Department of Education is urging schools to consult with their legal counsel. 

In a Thursday memo, State Superintendent Michael Rice noted that diversity, equity and inclusion “have different meanings to different people and different manifestations in different institutions, a central reason why it is misleading, unintentionally or otherwise, to consider them all under the same rubric.”

Rice said DEI efforts in the public schools can include anything from literary works that reflect a wide range of authors to the state’s general education transportation reimbursement, which tends to benefit rural school districts more than others because their per-pupil transportation costs are higher.   

Such efforts, Rice said, “don’t ‘preference’ particular people or groups; rather, they expand opportunity”

Bernia said he has not made any changes to Warren school district programming in response to the Trump administration’s efforts. 

“It's one of the big challenges that we have as I read the letter, and as I read the news coverage, and as I read the executive order, is I'm not totally clear on what we're talking about at this time,” Bernia said. 

“We're still going to support our kids, we're still going to do the best job that we can for our students while we try to figure out what exactly we're talking about here.”

Bridge Michigan reviewed websites of some of the largest districts in the state throughout the week to see how schools reference DEI publicly.  The answers were wide-ranging. Some school districts share resources with parents about how to talk to their children about race, one district previously declared itself an “anti-racist institution,” and some school districts’ reference equity in their strategic plans. 

How are Michigan colleges responding? 

The Dear Colleague letter interprets the 2023 Supreme Court ruling to mean that federal law prohibits schools  “from using race in decisions pertaining to admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life.”  

Michigan colleges and universities say they are watching closely to see if they need to change programming or other items due to the letter. The Michigan Constitution already forbids schools from using race as a factor in college admissions.  Colleges and universities are also dealing with other executive orders and federal actions not directly tied to the letter.

Still, at MSU two leaders told deans, directors and chairs to review programs and activities to ensure “preference is not given based on a protected identity,” and that if a program is linked to a protected identity, the materials must “make clear that all are welcome and shall receive equal opportunity to participate or apply.” 

Unless someone has been told “explicitly” to stop or alter their work, “there is no MSU guidance to do so at this point.” Interim Provost Thomas Jeitschko told faculty and staff in a follow-up email.

Brendan Cantwell, a professor of higher education and policy at MSU, said the Trump administration’s position on DEI appears “legally tenuous because it is not very specific,” but “no university is eager to be investigated by the Department of Education.” 

The American Council on Education, a group of colleges and universities across the country, urged the Department of Education to rescind its letter Tuesday, arguing the letter was vague, did not address First Amendment protections or provide clarity on how programs previously considered legal could now be illegal

Delta College President Mike Gavin has trained other higher education professionals on how to combat efforts to limit DEI through a group he founded called Education 4 All.

“My read of both the Dear Colleague letter in terms of law and the executive orders…is that the intent is to cause fear and to have colleges impose restrictions on themselves that are not necessary,” Gavin said. “And those restrictions are targeted at Black, Brown and LGBTQ people, which is, in fact, in my mind, antithetical to civil rights.” 

Four days after the Dear Colleague letter was released, University of Michigan President Santa Ono told students, faculty and staff in a letter that he is working with several leaders including the chancellors of the Dearborn and Flint campus and lawyers “to understand the full impact and implications of the guidance.”

Prior to the Trump Administration taking over, U-M said it would no longer solicit diversity statements in hiring processes. On Wednesday, Ono announced broader changes including hiring restrictions, limits on spending and reassessments of capital projects as he warned of more federal cuts coming to the university. 

U-M and Grand Valley State University both regularly update their websites on how the schools are responding to the latest federal actions.

State leaders seek more clarity 

State Rep. Gina Johnsen, R-Lake Odessa, and 14 other House Republicans sent a letter Tuesday to the Michigan Department of Education and the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential seeking clarity on how leaders were assessing if they were in compliance with the law. 

“My primary focus is ensuring that Michigan schools are not punished for failure to comply with an order just because state officials may disagree with it,” Johnsen said in a statement. 

“Political appointees in state government can disagree with what President Trump is doing, but they must ensure local schools do not become collateral damage in a proxy war they’re trying to wage with the federal government.”

The MiLEAP director is a political appointee but the state superintendent is selected by the elected State Board of Education. 

Rice responded the next day saying MDE is monitoring the “federal directors and their status closely.” 

He referenced the 2006 ban that prohibits schools “from either discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to individuals on the basis of race.” He also cited the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, which he said bars “public and private educational institutions serving students of all age levels from engaging in race-based discrimination, including in admissions.”