Two Texas universities are being investigated by the Trump administration for engaging with a program that allegedly uses preferential treatment based on race, the U.S. Education Department announced Friday.
Rice University and the University of North Texas in Denton were both on the list of 45 institutions under investigation for working with the PhD Project, an organization helping minority students.
The PhD Project has existed for 31 years and seeks to help underrepresented and minority students access coveted doctoral and leadership programs. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 63.1% of doctoral degrees awarded in 2020-21 were to white students. Black, Asian, Hispanic and Pacific Islander students made up less than 13% of doctoral graduates.
Texas A&M University withdrew from the PhD Project’s annual conference after Gov. Greg Abbott threatened A&M President Mark Welsh’s job on X following conservative activist Christian Rufo posting that the conference seemingly was only open to nonwhite and non-Asian scholars, according to a screenshot of the now-closed conference application.
The conference, set for March 20-21, helps prospective doctoral students understand the steps to take to get a doctorate and provides networking opportunities with professional and college leaders, according to the program’s website.
The U.S. Education Department said its Office for Civil Rights initiated the investigations under Title VI after a “Dear Colleague Letter” sent a month earlier said schools receiving federal funding must end “the use of racial preferences and stereotypes in education programs and activities.”
“Students must be assessed according to merit and accomplishment, not prejudged by the color of their skin,” U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in the news release. “We will not yield on this commitment.”
The department also is investigating six universities for race-based scholarships and another for a program exclusive to students of a certain race. Last week, it announced investigations into dozens of universities for alleged antisemitic discrimination while also cutting its staff size in half, leaving nearly 2,000 employees without jobs and shuttering its Texas-based civil rights office
Texas Senate Bill 17 outlawed diversity, equity and inclusion in hiring, support offices, programs or support staff at public institutions of higher education beginning January 2024. The law has been met with backlash from students and college employees that said it prevented historically underserved students from obtaining needed resources.
The Texas Conference of the American Association of University Professors said on X that the federal investigations are part of the administration’s “campaign to end DEI.”
“We must work across the state and across public and private institutions to fight back against the growing attack,” the organization’s post said.
The University of North Texas, the PhD project and Rice University did not respond to American-Statesman requests for comment.