Understanding Attacks on DEI in Higher Ed

The latest attacks on colleges’ diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts can feel overwhelming, relentless, and confusing.

Our experienced team of journalists has created several tools to help you navigate the chaos.

Three years ago, after our reporter Eric Kelderman broke the news that two conservative think tanks had designed model legislation for states to ban several ways colleges recruit and retain minority faculty, staff, and students, we put a team of more than a dozen reporters to work checking legislative dockets once a week for anti-DEI bills.

Our DEI tracker has become the go-to source on the current state of play. It has empowered our newsroom to provide you with comprehensive coverage that helps you understand the causes and fallout of this dynamic movement.

Here are some additional resources to keep up with the most important DEI issues on campus:

Explanatory journalism: Reporters Adrienne Lu and Katherine Mangan have explained what DEI officers do and don’t do, analyzed why diversity statements are so controversial, and published a special report on the successes and failures of colleges’ diversity training.

Trend coverage: Mangan and Lee Gardner this summer reported a series of stories about the mysterious drop in white enrollment. And we recently wrote about a new effort afoot to change the way the federal government distributes money based on the racial composition of colleges’ student bodies.

Data-powered insights: Last year, after we tracked 12 states passing anti-DEI laws, reporters Erin Gretzinger, Maggie Hicks, Christa Dutton, and Jasper Smith began tracing how colleges were changing their diversity efforts in response to political efforts. We have so far identified 232 college campuses in 34 states making changes to, among other things, the names of their multicultural centers, their hiring practices, and the ways they identify and set aside services for groups of students.
Looking for more coverage? Find links to all our stories on DEI here and sign up for our weekly Race on Campus newsletter to get the latest coverage in your inbox.

See something we’re missing? We want to hear from you. Do you see a change or legislative effort that we haven’t tracked? E-mail deitracker@chronicle.com. Is there a story on your campus you think we should write? Reach out to me at daarel.burnette@chronicle.com.

We’ll continue to stay on top of this rapidly evolving political landscape and what it means for higher education.
Daarel Burnette II
Senior Editor