The Ohio State University ‘sunsets’ offices amid ongoing review of DEI work

The Ohio State University (OSU) “sunset” its Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Center for Belonging and Social Change on Friday.

The office closures reportedly impacted 16 professional staff positions. The school said no worker will lose their position for at least 60 days and that it will help find impacted employees internal jobs where available, WBNS reported. 

OSU President Ted Carter announced the closures on Thursday, citing federal law that enforces universities to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) measures on campus.

“The federal government has signaled its intent to enforce guidance invalidating the use of race in a broad range of educational activities, including by withdrawing federal dollars that are so important to our student, academic and operational success,” Carter wrote in a message posted to the OSU website.

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“Here in Ohio, a bill barring DEI is also making its way through the legislature, and the Attorney General of Ohio — our statutory counsel — has advised us that his office concurs with the federal government’s position regarding the use of race in educational activities,” he said.

Scholarships administered by the Office of Academic Affairs will adjust their eligibility criteria. The programming and services offered by Student Life’s Center for Belonging and Social Change were set to end Friday.

“We will sunset the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) along with some of its services, effective February 28, 2025. Scholarships administered by the Office of Academic Affairs, including the Morrill Scholarship Program and the Young Scholars Program will be maintained with modified eligibility criteria going forward,” Carter added.

OSU’s Hale Black Cultural Center, Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity and “other DEI-related units at the university are currently under the president’s review,” according to OSU’s student newspaper, The Lantern.

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Carter’s announcement comes after the Trump administration released a memo Feb. 14 with guidance that colleges and universities end DEI-related mandates, policies and programs. If the institutions fail to comply, they could face the loss of federal funding, per the civil rights office of the Department of Education.

Trump in January signed an executive order terminating DEI “discrimination” in the federal workforce, and in federal contracting and spending.

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The executive order directed every department and agency to end “private sector DEI discrimination,” including civil compliance investigations. 

In December, the University of Michigan announced it would no longer “solicit diversity statements as part of faculty hiring, promotion and tenure.”

Other universities that nixed DEI include Northeastern University, Missouri State University and West Virginia University.

Many proponents of DEI argue that the effort corrects historical injustices and systemic inequities.