Colorado State University has made changes on its campuses following the Trump Administration’s guidelines to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
The university’s changes stem from the Dear Colleague Letter that was sent out in February by the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights. The letter states that K-12 schools and higher education institutions have discriminated against students based on race and should not distribute benefits based on race.
The letter also said DEI practices are “discriminatory” and “smuggl[e] racial stereotypes and explicit race-consciousness into everyday training, programming, and discipline.” The department has informed institutions that a failure to comply may put them in danger of losing federal funding.
Shortly after receiving the Dear Colleague letter, the CSU System sent out a communication to the CSU community saying they would revise their websites as well as shift employee job duties and human resource policies in an effort to comply with federal guidelines.
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CSU System officials are trying to keep that funding and follow the law across its campuses. But in Fort Collins, students worry the university is not prioritizing their needs.
Several website changes have occurred since the letter. For instance, a pronoun statement from the university has been removed and now directs back to the main webpage. The CSU student newspaper, The Collegian, reports the statement hasn’t been used since late February.
Additionally, the term “undocumented” has been removed from several CSU webpages. It might say “DACA student” or “Immigrants” instead, or the page may not show up at all. CSU also temporarily removed the map of the all-gender bathrooms on campus and then put it back up.
Trainings centered around helping with homophobia and transphobia have also been discontinued, with the website stating that students are not able to schedule sessions.
CSU Senior Ella Smith was so concerned by these changes that they created the CSU Student Coalition for DEIA in January. They were scared about what the future held for them as a student in the Women’s and Gender Studies program. Smith created the group as a way for students to demand the university stand up for what it says it values.
“Our administration uses these things to buoy themselves up when it’s beneficial, when it can get them jobs, when they can use it as a selling point for people to come to our university and pay their salaries,” Smith said. “But they’re not fighting for students.”
This has left Smith and other students frustrated, sad and scared. Many say the university has been slow with its communication, and when it does communicate, it has been vague and confusing.
The university has created a federal updates page to disseminate information and answer frequently asked questions. Officials have stated that they want every student, regardless of background, to feel welcome at CSU.
“The key, it seems to me, is resolutely supporting our students and the employees who provide that support. In today’s environment, that may mean reorganization,” said Tony Frank, the Chancellor of the Colorado State University system, in a message following the Dear Colleague Letter in late February. “But it does not mean a retreat from a commitment to the values that have driven us and the outcomes that remain our goals – for every student to feel welcome and to succeed.”
KUNC News reached out to the office of CSU President Amy Parsons, and received a general university statement, which reads in part: “At a time when there is change in federal priorities, CSU is steadfastly focused on its historic land-grant mission – to ensure that every student with the talent and desire has access to an affordable world-class education.”
Students say CSU’s compliance goes against the university’s stated value of being an inclusive institution. They have expressed fear to go out on campus and participate in school clubs and cultural resource centers because they’re worried something might happen to them or they will be targeted.
“This is people’s lives that we are fighting for and fighting about,” Smith said. “We’re not asking for a new rec center.”
These changes have led to protests by students and a sit-in at the university’s administration building in February. Earlier this semester, several new activist groups, including The People United and the Student Coalition for DEIA, formed on campus to stand up for student rights and urge the university to do the same. The latter recently disbanded. Smith, who led the group, said they did not want to duplicate work other organizations were doing.
Smith knows students will not be silent about these issues, but it’s certainly not easy to ensure their voices are heard.
“I think every student who is engaged in this work is tired. It is exhausting, hard work,” Smith said. “This work should be taken up by people who are getting paid to do it, this work should be taken up by our university, who should be fighting for the students.”
Nick DeSalvo, CSU’s Student Body President for this academic year, said the university “without a doubt” still values diversity. He said the programming itself has not changed, but the university is working to change language to be more inclusive.
“I think, in the grand scheme of things, what we are doing is still in line with our values despite these changes,” he said.
DeSalvo emphasized that there’s a real fear when roughly a third of the university’s budget comes from federal funding. That pays for student programs, research and more.
“I think what hasn’t been part of the broader conversation is how important that is, and how, while we desperately need these programs to continue, we desperately need the university to function,” he said. Regardless of students’ opinions and stances, DeSalvo hopes students take their concerns not just to the student government, but to local, state and federal leaders, too.
“Oftentimes we feel as though we’re small cogs in a much larger machine and that our voices don’t matter, but they genuinely do,” he said. “Use five minutes of your free time to leave a nice voicemail for [leaders], let those folks in Colorado know how you feel.”