On Feb. 21, a federal judge largely blocked the executive orders that President Donald Trump had signed to end government support for programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. 

According to AP News, U.S. district judge Adam Abelson in Baltimore, Md. granted a preliminary injunction blocking Trump’s administration from terminating or changing federal contracts considered equity-related.

A preliminary injunction is a temporary relief that keeps the status quo until the merit of the case has been decided. Abelson argues that the diversity, equity and inclusion orders carry constitutional violations, including free-speech rights.

According to the CBIA on March 21, a panel of three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals lifted this injunction. The judges suggested that an injunction was premature. However, they warned that “aggressive” enforcement by the administration could violate free speech or other rights.

In response to the Trump Administration’s DEI policies, more than 50 universities are facing federal investigations according to AP News on March 14. Most of the inquiries are tied to the college’s partnerships with The PhD Project, a nonprofit that helps students from underrepresented groups get degrees in business with the goal of diversifying the business world. 

Other colleges, such as Grand Valley State University, the University of South Florida, and the University of Oklahoma at Tulsa are currently being investigated for awarding “impermissible race-based scholarships,” according to AP News on March 14.

Some changes are even happening in our backyard at the big universities in Nebraska At University of Nebraska – Lincoln, the DEI program shut down, and the MLK speech tournament was shut down due to the tournament being dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr. 

At the University of Nebraska – Omaha, the DEI program also shut down. Scholarships for women and men from underserved communities who are studying to be teachers have also been cut.

As this relates to Hastings College, the changes being made of DEI policies do not affect us. HC is a private institution, meaning that this college is mostly funded by private donations rather than federal funding. 

This means that the college is not obligated to the same federal-level mandates that public institutions face, allowing HC to maintain or even expand on DEI policies if desired.