An executive order enacted by President Donald Trump has listed any institution with an endowment of over $1 billion a possible target of civil rights investigations, potentially clearing a path for a federal investigation into Bryn Mawr College.
The order, entitled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” is a sweeping action aimed at dismantling Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs across the nation. While it does not necessarily state which institutions would be subject to investigation, it does identify “institutions of higher education with endowments over 1 billion dollars” as possible targets. This would, in turn, leave Bryn Mawr susceptible to a civil compliance investigation by the federal government. Haverford College has a total endowment of $702 million and thus would not be at risk.
The order states that DEI programs “undermine our national unity” and “deny, discredit, and undermine the traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement.”
Trump centered much of his presidential campaign on ending DEI programs, and since retaining office he has sought to dismantle the four years of DEI-related policies put forth by the Biden administration. Already, the federal government has forgone much of their diversity-based programs, and companies across the nation are following suit.
Bryn Mawr, along with private institutions across the nation, is no longer able to implement affirmative action in their admissions process following a Supreme Court decision in August of 2023, which stated that the practice was against the 14th amendment. Still, the college may be singled out as a result of the regulations put forth by Trump’s order.
Bryn Mawr’s mission statement praises DEI practices, saying that “equity and inclusion serve as the engine for excellence and innovation,” and “a commitment to racial justice and to equity across all aspects of diversity propels our students, faculty, and staff to reflect upon and work to build fair, open and welcoming institutional structures, values, and culture.”
The college has a large number of DEI programs, many of which were instated following a student-led strike in 2020 that coincided with a national reckoning of systemic racism across the United States. The programs, now outlined annually in the “DEIA Progress Report” may become the subject of scrutiny following Trump’s aggressive measures to redefine higher education.
Some programs, like the effort to diversify tenure professor tracks, could be particularly at risk. Last year, Bryn Mawr noted that 42.8% of tenure-track faculty hires identify as BIPOC, stating that such a statistic would “increase the overall faculty diversity and reflects the many efforts of search committees to establish diverse pools of candidates for faculty positions.”
Trump’s executive order defines programs like these as violations of the civil rights act of 1964 and says that they are discriminatory, acting as a barrier to “supporting equality of opportunity for all Americans.”
While it is unclear whether or not Trump will single out Bryn Mawr, there is no doubt that his administration will redefine higher education as it currently stands.
