The University of Alaska is grappling with how to respond to broad executive orders from the Trump administration that include eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
The administration is forcing educational institutions to remove DEI language and programs that it says violate civil rights as a condition to receive federal funding.
Part of those orders have since been blocked by a federal judge. But the university has already made some changes on its website, and a directive from its Board of Regents last Friday leaves the path forward unclear for faculty and administrators.
One faculty member has already been contacted by university administrators. Kathy DiLorenzo is an associate professor of Public Administration for the University of Alaska Southeast.
She got an email over the weekend about a class she’s teaching this summer. A university administrator told her to change the course name and description. The class? “The Role of Leadership in DEI in the Public Sector.”
The class’ course description said students would look at how DEI impact nonprofits, public policies and the government. DiLorenzo pushed back on the directive.
“I wrote back and said, ‘I don’t agree with this. I feel it’s a violation of academic freedom,’” DiLorenzo said. “And then it came back to me that the chancellor said, ‘Okay, you can, you can keep it,’” she said.
She said academic freedom means instructors aren’t limited in what they can teach.
“As long as we are not teaching something that is wrong, not valid, or we’re harming somebody in some way, we have the freedom to teach what is relevant to society. And DEI is relevant to society,” DiLorenzo said.
Her experience highlights a shift at the University of Alaska as it responds to executive orders from the Trump administration that target diversity initiatives. The email to DiLorenzo came just one day after the university’s Board of Regents directed its president to scrub mentions of DEI from its websites and programming.
DiLorenzo’s summer course seems like it can remain as is, but she said things could change if the university’s administration gets other instructions from its leadership as a result of federal policy changes.
“I believe that the administration at UAS wants to have the most open and inclusive environment that we can have, and they’re committed to that, but if they get direction from above them, they won’t have any choice,” she said.
Before the formal change on Friday, the university had already begun making changes to comply with federal orders. The university’s nondiscrimination statement, which used to mention affirmative action and its goals, has its own web page. Almost all of its language around affirmative action was gone as of last Thursday, according to archived versions of the webpage. Archives also show that a shortened version of the statement used in job listings and email signatures got rid of affirmative action language.
The statement used to say, “UA is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer, educational institution, and provider and prohibits illegal discrimination against any individual.”
As of last Thursday, the statement changed to say, “The University of Alaska is an Equal Opportunity/Equal Access Employer and Educational Institution. The University is committed to a policy of non-discrimination against individuals on the basis of any legally protected status.”
Most job listings across the three universities used the updated language as of last week, but some UAS jobs still used the older language. All job postings use the new language following Friday’s motion.
UA Director of Public Affairs Jonathon Taylor said this is part of the university updating its nondiscrimination policy in response to the Trump administration’s executive order.
Taylor said it’s an informal administrative process that is based on advice from the university’s legal counsel. But, he said it isn’t related to Friday’s board motion.
“I would caution against creating a link between the updates to the nondiscrimination statement and the board action on Friday,” he said. “The action to update the language on the non discrimination statement was already in motion before the board meeting and isn’t related to the board action.”
The “about” webpage for the university’s Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program also had several changes, including the removal of the words “Alaska Natives,” according to reporting from the Anchorage Daily News.
University of Alaska Southeast Chancellor Aparna Palmer addressed the board’s motion in a letter sent to staff and students Friday.
“This was a difficult decision for the Board to make but, ultimately, they were driven by their desire to ensure the long-term success of the University of Alaska system in the face of the potential threat of losing all of the federal funding we receive to support our students and employees,” Palmer wrote.
UAS Alaska Native Languages professor X̱’unei Lance Twitchell said eliminating words around DEI violates free speech protections from the state and federal constitutions. And even with the services the universities have provided for students from underrepresented communities, Twitchell said more needs to be done – not less.
“We have some students, especially from rural communities in western Alaska, who come to us as faculty members and say, ‘I feel like I have a choice at a university. I can be myself, or I can succeed, and I have to make that choice,’” Twitchell said. “And so long as we’re hearing Native students who are saying that, we know we haven’t done an adequate job of providing a good place for them to have an education.”
Twitchell said leadership on the university’s Alaska Native Studies Council will meet soon to discuss strategies to face the various ways this directive will play out.
Chancellor Palmer stated in her letter that university leadership will begin meeting with faculty and students this week to figure out next steps.
