University of Minnesota cuts ties with nonprofit as Trump administration pushes against DEI

The University of Minnesota can no longer work with a group that helped Black and Latino students pursue business degrees — or other similar organizations — after the U.S. Education Department said the partnership constituted discrimination against white and Asian students.

The U participated in a “blatantly discriminatory program designed to benefit certain favored students based on their race or national origin to the clear detriment of other students who did not have access to the program,” a September letter from the Department of Education said.

As a result of that finding, the U signed an agreement with the department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in October, requiring U officials to submit a list of memberships in outside organizations that restrict participation based on race and prove it has canceled them while also allowing the office to monitor its compliance on an ongoing basis.

The actions are part of the Trump administration’s nationwide crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, with colleges and universities at the center of much of the scrutiny.

In a recent statement, the U said it “remains engaged” with the OCR to “address their concerns in this matter and continues to be diligent in its compliance with federal regulations and guidelines” while also remaining committed to supporting equity and diversity.

In March, the Department of Education identified 45 universities that “engaged in race exclusionary practices” by collaborating with the PhD Project, a national nonprofit that aimed to diversify the pipeline of students enrolling in business doctoral programs. The U was on that list and was called out a second time for participating in race-based scholarships or segregation.

“The agency has already launched Title VI investigations into institutions where widespread antisemitic harassment has been reported and Title IX investigations into entities which allegedly continue to allow sex discrimination,” Linda McMahon, U.S. Education Department secretary, said in the letter. “Today’s announcement expands our efforts to ensure universities are not discriminating against their students based on race and race stereotypes.”

The previous month, schools across the country had learned they could lose federal money over “race-based preferences” in areas like admissions and scholarships through another letter.

The “flagship event” of the PhD Project, which recently changed its mission to include students of any ethnicity, is its annual conference, which offers networking opportunities and sessions on applying to graduate programs, what it’s like to be a doctoral student and information about different disciplines within business, according to the conference’s 2024 agenda.

The U, like other schools, partnered with the PhD Project at a cost of $3,000 to $5,000 per year from 2008 through 2025, which allowed the U to apply to attend the conference, provided access to a job board and the chance to host a booth there, which it did in 2023 and 2024, the Department of Education said.

“Although the university stated that it ended its partnership with the PhD Project, OCR finds that the university endorsed, promoted and benefitted from a program that limited participation based on race through its payment of partnership fees and its use of PhD Project resources for recruitment purposes in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic year,” the letter said.

The Board of Regents was notified by the U’s attorneys about the resolution agreement, said U spokesman Joe Linstroth, adding that it was not discussed at any public meeting.

It’s not clear whether other schools and colleges at the U received the same email.

The email linked to a spreadsheet where faculty could name such groups. Two organizations were listed — the NextGen Psych Scholars Program and the Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession.

The U didn’t respond to an inquiry asking whether involvement with those groups is now prohibited.

Politicians began scrutinizing the PhD Project, once a little-known nonprofit, last January after a conservative strategist started posting about it on social media, according to the Associated Press. Republicans noticed the posts, likely leading to the letter alleging that universities were discriminating.

Several universities quickly severed ties or distanced themselves from the organization after those posts. After a post stating that Texas A&M University was sponsoring a trip to the PhD Project’s conference, Texas’ governor posted that the school’s president would be ousted if he didn’t fix the issue. Texas A&M withdrew from the conference, along with eight other Texas schools that had previously attended.