In the aftermath of the 2023 Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard decision (SFFA), which rendered the use of race-based affirmative action in college admissions unconstitutional,^[1] Americans expressed widespread fear that the decision would negatively impact diversity on college campuses.^[2] Two years later, these fears have largely proven to be well-founded. Data from the most selective colleges across America show an almost universal decrease in the enrollment of Black students, with the Black student population at some schools declining by almost half.^[3]

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has mounted consistent attacks on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives, putting further pressure on universities.^[4] The administration has implemented funding freezes and launched investigations into schools that refuse to eliminate their DEI programs, arguing that these programs violate Title VI prohibitions against racial discrimination.^[5] The University of Virginia and other schools have capitulated to the administration’s demands, agreeing to prohibit DEI in exchange for a promise that investigations will cease and the school will not face monetary penalties.^[6] Columbia University paid the administration monetary settlements to cease investigations and restore research funds.^[7] Both public and private institutions continue to face extraordinary pressure to eliminate programming that supports minority students. Thus, the inclusion of students of color is threatened on two distinct fronts. On the one hand, the Court has limited universities’ means of including students of color in admissions through SFFA. On the other hand, the Trump administration has attacked programs that promote inclusion within the university environment, far exceeding the scope of SFFA’s holding.

Perhaps paradoxically, the Trump administration announced an almost $500 million investment in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).^[8] At a time when other minority-serving programs have faced significant federal funding cuts, this investment into HBCUs has left some scholars and activists feeling confused and suspicious.^[9] Simultaneously, the administration co-opts the language of Title VI, civil rights, and discrimination to justify its attacks on diversity-focused programs in Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs).^[10] To the Trump administration, these programs constitute “pervasive and repugnant race-based preferences.”^[11]

This approach bears an interesting similarity to the strategies employed by Southern states to avoid mounting pressures to integrate, leading up to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision.^[12] In light of increased legal challenges to segregated school systems, school districts across the South poured funding into Black schools in an effort to show their compliance with Plessy v. Ferguson’s “separate but equal” mandate and demonstrate that integration was unnecessary to maintain functional equality.^[13] Although operating in a different legal context, the Trump administration has used similar tools: namely, the strategic distribution of funding. By directing funds towards HBCUs and dismantling programs that support substantive inclusion of students of color in PWIs,^[14] the Trump administration nominally complies with civil rights mandates while simultaneously advancing policies that risk reproducing segregationist outcomes.

A little over a year after the U.S. Department of Education issued its “Dear Colleague” letter declaring DEI programs impermissible, a federal district court in New Hampshire formally invalidated the directive.^[15] This does not mean the administration’s attacks on inclusion will cease, nor does it mean we can forget the harm that has already been done. In 2023, SFFA functionally barred universities from making admissions decisions based on a diversity interest.^[16] In 2025, the Trump administration initiated an anti-DEI policy that may have permanently altered universities’ commitments to diversity.^[17] The long-term effects of these changes on students of color in universities remains to be seen.

^[1] Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard Coll., 600 U.S. 181, 230 (2023).

^[2] See, e.g., Katharine Meyer, The End of Race-Conscious Admissions, Brookings (June 29, 2023), https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-end-of-race-conscious-admissions/ [https://perma.cc/FX56-E6B8]; Itzel Luna, California Private Colleges Fear Affirmative Action Ban as Supreme Court Prepares to Rule, Cal Matters (June 1, 2023), https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/college-beat/2023/06/california-private-colleges-affirmative-action-supreme-court/ [https://perma.cc/K99G-8DKX]; J. Brian Charles, After Ban on Race-Conscious Admissions, MIT’s Black and Latino Enrollment Plunges, The Chron. of Higher Educ. (Aug. 21, 2024), https://www.chronicle.com/article/after-ban-on-race-conscious-admissions-mits-black-and-latino-enrollment-plunges.

^[3] Collin Binkley, Black Enrollment Is Waning at Many Elite Colleges After Affirmative Action Ban, AP Analysis Finds, The Assoc. Press (Oct. 23, 2025), https://apnews.com/article/affirmative-action-college-admissions-race-princeton-8d3c44eb6b01d0689f7c109041735aec [https://perma.cc/4VQE-Y6DM].

^[4] Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder, Tracking Trump’s Crackdown on Higher Education, U.S. News (Oct. 3, 2025), https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/trumps-higher-education-crackdown-visa-revocations-dei-bans-lawsuits-and-funding-cuts.

^[5] Id.

^[6] Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff & Susan Svrluga, University of Virginia Reaches Deal to Pause Trump Administration Probes, The Washington Post (Oct. 22, 2025), https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2025/10/22/university-of-virginia-trump-administration-settlement/ [https://perma.cc/AM3S-6Y4L].

^[7] Id.

^[8] Nicquel Terry Ellis, Trump Boosts HBCU Funding Despite his Attacks on DEI Programs. Here is Why Some Experts Believe This is Happening, CNN (Oct. 6, 2025), https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/06/us/hbcu-funding-dei-trump-explained [https://perma.cc/79WH-GWBT].

^[9] Id. Notably, the referenced funding cuts largely impacted Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI). Id.

^[10] See Smith-Schoenwalder, supra note 4.

^[11] U.S. Dep’t of Educ. Off. for C.R., Title VI of the Civil Rights Act in Light of Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2025).

^[12] See e.g., Rebekah Dobrasko, A Move Toward Equality I: Equalization Schools, Lowcountry Digital History Initiative (Apr. 2022), https://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/equalization-schools/move-toward-equality-i [https://perma.cc/8UQL-UMV7].

^[13] Id.

^[14] Ellis, supra note 8.

^[15] American Civil Liberties Union, Department of Education Backs Down on Unlawful Directive Targeting Educational Equity, ACLU (Feb. 18, 2026), https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/department-of-education-backs-down-on-unlawful-directive-targeting-educational-equity [https://perma.cc/Z4K3-BJQH].

^[16] Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard Coll., 600 U.S. 181, 214 (2023) (explaining that, while the goal of ensuring a diverse student body is “commendable,” it is nonetheless “not sufficiently coherent” to be considered a compelling interest that satisfies strict scrutiny).

^[17] Allie Pitchon, Federal Ruling Ends Trump’s Anti-DEI Directive Aimed at Universities, But Future of Diversity Programs at UVA Remains Unclear, Charlottesville Tomorrow (Feb. 25, 2026), https://www.cvilletomorrow.org/federal-ruling-ends-trumps-anti-dei-directive-aimed-at-universities-but-future-of-diversity-programs-at-uva-remains-unclear/ [https://perma.cc/WB4K-Z7K8].