Chronicling the creeping demise of Diversity™, Equity™, and Inclusion™, otherwise known as institutionalized racism.
Not that it required unique gifts of prescience, but I predicted before Trump 2.0 took the reins that the administration would deliver on its promise to crack down on federally-funded racist programs marketed as DEI and that, as a result, these institutions would merely remove the “diversity” and “inclusion” terms, replace them with other nonsense, and plow on doing exactly whatever they want.
Related: Yale ‘Fascism Professor’ Flees Country to Escape Trump’s Fourth Reich
Syracuse University, for its part, is at least honest about its motivations, unlike many peer institutions.
Via Syracuse University (emphasis added):
Syracuse University announced Thursday it will close its Office of Diversity and Inclusion as part of a restructuring effort aimed at complying with federal law.
The office will be folded into a new unit within the Office of Human Resources called People and Culture, according to a statement from Chancellor Kent Syverud to the SU community.
Syverud said the move follows a review launched in March to assess the university’s compliance with federal regulations, including Title VI.
The law prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin in programs that receive federal funding.
“We want to be welcoming to all, while ensuring full compliance with federal law, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” Syverud said in the statement.
Accuracy in Media, a conservative watchdog group doing the Lord’s work, caught Iowa State University’s transgender czar, Susan Harper, explaining that her office is subcontracting its social engineering projects out to employees and students so as to avoid conflicting with Iowa state law Chapter 261J that allows DEI at state universities.
Via CBS 2 Iowa (emphasis added):
Another undercover video has emerged targeting an employee at a state university in Iowa over DEI compliance.
The newest video features Susan Harper, who is now the co-curricular student development director in Multicultural Student Affairs, in a highly edited video by "Accuracy in Media," saying they are "finding loopholes in the laws."
At the time of the filming, Harper was the director for the Center for LGBTQIA+ Student Success. That programming was eliminated from the university in December 2024.
THREAD
— Accuracy In Media (@AccuracyInMedia) August 10, 2025
In this undercover investigation, Dr. Susan Harper, Director of the LGBT Department at Iowa State University, was caught on camera speaking with our investigative journalist about how diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts are continuing despite state… pic.twitter.com/R6NKFxiHMg
Related: Karine Jean-Pierre Lavished With ‘Torchbearer in Communications’ DEI Award
Cornell, like Syracuse, simply renamed its DEI office to remove “diversity” from the name.
Via The Cornell Daily Sun (emphasis added):
Cornell has officially renamed its Office of Academic Diversity Initiatives to the Office of Academic Discovery and Impact as of Friday, according to an email sent to Pre Professional Programs scholars by Kristin Dade, director of OADI.
The Friday email, which was signed off by OADI Director William "Woodg" Horning, Dade and the entire OADI team, describes that the “very exciting” name change followed “think[ing] strategically about who we are and how all students see us across campus*.”
The new name “aligns with the OADI mission and vision and the key goals of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education 一 curiosity and connection,” according to the email obtained by The Sun.
The office wanted to maintain the “signature moniker of ‘OADI’” due to its Arabic and Swahili meaning**, according to the email. OADI’s website states that the word “refers to a cool protected passage route/valley through a desert, often formed by a seasonal river.”
*Translation: “Think[ing] strategically about who we are and how [the federal government] sees us across campus so we don’t get our federal gravy train derailed.”
**”Why would an American university name its DEI office after Arabic and Swahili words?” one might ask.
