CINCINNATI (WXIX) – Protests erupted for the second consecutive day Tuesday at the University of Cincinnati over the future of its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.
Hundreds attended a rally that began around 8 a.m. before the UC Board of Trustees meeting and then packed the meeting room.
UC President Neville Pinto announced during the heated meeting that DEI programs would continue for now until there is a court order requiring it.
“As a state organization, we need to comply with the U.S. Department of Education,” Pinto said Tuesday. “But let me say this. This is not an environment where we can have a fruitful discussion, but I hear you, and I will commit to engaging with each of your groups absent of any federal order that changes it.”
UC junior Jordan Sedgwick wasn’t satisfied with his answer and says she now worries for her future.
“I have a Turner scholarship, which means I’m part of a DEI scholarship, so it affects me greatly,” she said. “I know hundreds of people that are being threatened to not be able to go to college to receive the higher education they pursued just because the school said this was okay. This is not OK. It should not be happening.”
President Donald Trump signed an order on his first day in office directing federal agencies to terminate all equity-related contracts, according to a news release on the White House website. He has since signed a second order requiring federal contractors to certify that they don’t promote DEI.
The U.S. Department of Education then gave K-12 schools and universities that receive federal funding an ultimatum: eliminate DEI initiatives by this Friday or risk losing federal funding.
The funding they could lose includes student loans, Title IV, curriculum development, free or reduced lunch programs, and support for students with special needs.
As a result, UC began rolling back its DEI initiatives earlier this month in compliance with the new federal mandates.
However, late last week, a federal judge granted a court order preventing President Donald Trump’s administration from ending or changing equity-related federal contracts.
Even more changes regarding DEI initiatives are likely coming at the state level with Ohio Senate Bill 1, which passed the Senate earlier this month and is now being reviewed in Ohio’s House.
If passed into law, the Republican-backed legislation would further eliminate DEI programs and basically change the way universities operate including removing tenure for professors.
Also, on Tuesday, a new law went into effect in Ohio banning transgender students from using K-12 school and college bathrooms matching their gender identities.
Senate Bill 104 now requires them to use restrooms of their gender at birth.
Schools including UC must designate separate bathrooms, locker rooms and overnight accommodations “for the exclusive use” of either males and females, based on one’s gender assigned at or near birth, in both school buildings and facilities used for a school-sponsored event, according to the legislation.
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