The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) announced Tuesday it has temporarily paused its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) while it reviews its standards to comply with President Donald Trump’s recent executive order.
Trump’s April order barred accreditors from “compelling adoption of discriminatory ideology” such as DEI commitments for higher education institutions, while labeling accreditors the “gatekeepers” that control which schools can receive federal funding. The accreditor is now “launching a review” into its DEI standards but maintains its “commitment to success for every student.”
WASC’s most recent standards established in 2023 state that a school must promote “the success of all students and [make] explicit its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion” in order to be eligible for accreditation. The accreditor’s commission previously considered updating its standards in December to remove language requiring universities to commit to DEI but quickly backtracked, blaming feedback from its membership and “interested organizations.”
People walk on the campus of the University of Southern California (USC) on March 21, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
WASC’s previous proposal would have replaced the DEI requirement with a pledge to promote “institutional excellence and success for all students” to receive accreditation.
The accreditor is responsible for overseeing the entire University of California (UC) system, the California State University system and several religious institutions. Several California universities are already under review by the administration for allegedly not adhering to the ban on race-based admissions policies. (RELATED: DOJ’s Civil Rights Division Probes California Universities’ Admission Policies)
The Trump administration has been increasingly working to drive out divisive and discriminatory DEI practices from schools and the public sector, with several executive orders focused on the subject. The Department of Education has already removed hundreds of documents from its website outlining DEI practices, dissolved numerous teams tied to the topic, placed specialized staff on administrative leave and halted DEI trainings.
The administration has sent many warnings about its demands to end the programs and has been swift to threaten federal funding cuts for those who may still be following race-exclusionary practices.
WASC did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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