Conversations between students, faculty and staff guide decisions about the university’s response to the U.S. Department of Education’s statement announcing an end to DEI.

DePaul University announces it will remain committed to its Vincentian values of community, inclusivity and social justice, following the memo released by the U.S. Department of Education two weeks ago, telling schools they must remove “race-based” policies and practices or risk losing federal funding. 

On Friday, February 14, the acting assistant secretary for the Office for Civil Rights, Craig Trainor, sent a letter to schools nationwide, officially giving them a month to eliminate all DEI practices and policies. The letter references the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which banned the use of affirmative action in university admissions; the letter also warned schools against race inclusivity in hiring, graduation ceremonies, training and other aspects of academic life. 

DePaul President Rob Manuel quickly addressed the letter in an email to faculty, staff and students, declaring the university’s commitment to its Vincentian values. “Please know we remain steadfast in our mission, dedicated to academic freedom, and committed to our institutional priorities,” it read. 

On Thursday, almost two weeks after the “Dear Colleague” letter, DePaul faculty and staff met to discuss the letter, their concerns and possible solutions.  

“The dialogue event of the president’s is really probably the largest effort to bring together diverse voices, to both hear guidance from the best people we can hear it from, and then also to speak in small groups, to collectively reflect on and not necessarily to decision make in the moment, but to understand the values and principles that will be guiding our decisions moving forward,” said Elissa Foster, a DePaul communication professor and committee member of the university’s Dialogue Collaborative, which hosted Thursday’s meeting. 

At the meeting was Lieutenant Governor and DePaul alumna Juliana Stratton and DePaul’s new vice president of institutional diversity, inclusion and belonging, Dania Matos. In an email last week, Matos announced she will be hosting formal and informal listening sessions to “learn more and hear how students, staff and faculty experience DePaul.” She also offers one-on-one or small-group meetings, which can be scheduled through this link. 

The day after the meeting with faculty and staff, the College of Communication hosted a town hall in Lincoln Park to answer students’ questions about current events. 

After the event, Lexa Murphy, the dean of the College of Communication, said in an interview with 14 East that the university does not have plans to make any changes. 

 “I think the biggest form of resistance that we can do right now is not changing what we’re doing. We are going to continue the mission. We’re going to continue teaching our students,” Murphy said. “We’re not going to change anything on the possibilities of what could happen.” 

Michaela Winchatz, the associate dean of faculty and academic affairs in the college of communication, used the analogy of a fish bowl: the water around the university might be changing, but it remains committed to the values that it has had since its founding 125 years ago.  

“We’re not doing anything differently, but it allows us to see ourselves in a different light, and to kind of hold true and steadfast to what we believe in here,” said Winchatz. 

Outside of higher education, in a message on February 19, Illinois State Superintendent Tony Sanders told schools to continue teaching Black, Mexican-American and LGBTQ history, as mandated by Illinois law. 

“In Illinois, we strive to affirm, uplift, and support all our students and their families,” Sanders wrote. “Nothing in any executive order or ‘Dear Colleague’ letter should change that.”

DePaul students seeking help during this time are encouraged to reach out to the University Counseling and Psychological Services or the Division of Mission and Ministry. Additional resources can be found here. 

Header photo: “12212012 – AD – PN event 192” taken by the U.S. Department of Education on December 21, 2012 is licensed under CC BY 2.0