As President Donald Trump uses authoritarian strategies to exert greater control over educational and political institutions, a cloud of uncertainty grows above American higher education. Since his inauguration, Trump has targeted universities, press outlets and powerful individuals such as media personalities and political rivals with funding cuts and legal threats, seeking to expand the White House’s influence over information and education. The Trump administration introduced the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education on Oct. 1 as a derivative of individual pressure campaigns at Columbia University (N.Y.). Among various other affronts to institutional independence, the administration seeks to regulate how universities employ initiatives promoting DEI on campus through this compact. With the compact’s introduction, Trump has sent shockwaves through the world of higher education, engulfing the institutions involved in uncertainty and ongoing legal battles with the federal government. While the compact was not formally offered to Emory University, its implications echo across our campus.
Two months prior to the compact’s public release in mid October, Emory University Interim President Leah Ward Sears (80L) announced the closure of Emory’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) offices and programs as a result of federal directives. DEI is under attack, and, while Emory joined the vast majority of its peer institutions in vowing to reject the compact on Oct. 22 2025, the proposal is a blatant representation of the federal government’s ongoing desire to control one of the most powerful drivers of change in the United States: college students. The departments and progressive principles that Trump seeks to erase through DEI suppression are vital to Emory’s mission of serving humanity. If we do not actively research, teach and learn with DEI principles in mind, we risk leaving individuals and valuable voices behind.
In the absence of a unified administration outwardly and publicly dedicated to DEI, Emory students must push back. We have the power and responsibility to maintain an environment that keeps the University in line with its stated value of creating, preserving, teaching and applying knowledge in the service of humanity.
Trump’s struggle against elite American universities over DEI began at the beginning of his second term. A Jan. 22 executive order titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” ordered investigations into DEI programs at influential higher education institutions with endowments greater than $1 billion, which includes Emory. Since then, federal actions have continued to influence university policy. Emory has not been the only university to close diversity offices and programs: the University of Pennsylvania’s Carey Law School, for example, shut down its Office of Equal Opportunity and Engagement in August, and Harvard University (Mass.) explicitly removed stated diversity considerations in hiring earlier this summer.
Such efforts to alter higher education were already unusual and unprecedented, but the recent compact now goes a step further. By tying necessary funding to controversial and destructive policy changes, the Trump administration is blatantly undermining the academic independence and free research environment that has pushed the U.S. higher education system to the top of the global podium.
DEI is at the core of Emory’s academic environment. Diversity of thought, equity of policy and active inclusion — as well as the freedom of institutions to promote these values — are vital principles in allowing responsible and ethical research to better serve humanity. Emory’s reliance on federal funding to sustain its research initiatives renders it susceptible to political influence. In the compact, the Trump administration offers funding incentives as an attempt to mold institutional policy. With clauses encouraging reductions in international student admissions and significant alterations of policies surrounding gender identity, the compact leaves little room for DEI programs, new or old.
Although the federal government did not formally send the compact to Emory, former Interim Provost Lanny Liebeskind indicated the University's opposition to joining. However, the University’s actions have not aligned with this verbal commitment. By closing offices and firing staff to align more closely with the Trump administration’s priorities, Emory has clearly exhibited its reliance on the amicable political environment required for federal money that keeps the lights on. Despite rejecting the compact and the policies and ideas behind it, Emory’s administration is not, and cannot be, fully independent of federal influence. If the University cannot evade the shadow of federal entanglement, then we, as students, must do our part to sustain and strengthen our institution’s values.
Emory’s leadership seems like it is no longer capable of promoting and prioritizing DEI initiatives, but that does not mean such principles no longer exist here. Before their closure, Emory’s DEI office and programs were simply resources. While these resources certainly helped foster an equitable campus culture and inclusive collaboration, they did not make up the foundation of that culture — the students did.
We must exercise our agency as community members, moving to show how much we care for and value diversity. A foundation built in student commitment is stronger and more official than any administrative office. The federal government has shown that while it can influence Emory dramatically, it cannot dictate students’ beliefs and values. We must take advantage of this fact, working in every moment to represent and reinforce the values that Emory once outwardly stood for.
Whether it’s in student government, extracurricular leadership or our classes, students’ influence over the campus community matters. Fostering inclusive collaboration in class discussions, club meetings and event programming is a simple task that can have a tremendous effect on the wider campus community. We must dedicate our work to elevating voices at risk of marginalization, creating an equitable and inclusive discussion space in the face of a federal government that seeks to destroy it. This commitment starts with education and involvement in the community. Actively supporting guest lecturers, discussions or events celebrating and promoting cultural diversity is just one simple way to keep the institution pointed in the right direction.
Emory asserts in its mission statement that it exists, first and foremost, to serve humanity through teaching, learning and research. Emory’s administration has collapsed beneath the influence of a government that has repeatedly rejected these values, and in doing so, fallen short of its mission.
Students can and must pick up the slack left by our paralyzed administration. Our power is in our numbers and in our choices: If each student chooses to recognize and appreciate the value of diversity, while working intentionally to apply principles of equity and inclusion in their learning and leadership, our campus community will be stronger than ever. Even strong enough to ward off any attack by the federal government on our institutional independence.
Contact Will Carraway at will.carraway@emory.edu
