Facing down state law, DMACC preemptively pauses DEI efforts

0
29
Screenshot from the video, featuring President Donald Trump is calling for an end to federal diversity equity and inclusion or DEI programs. Fox-Seattle
Advertisements

By Amanda Tugade, Des Moines Register

Des Moines, IA-Des Moines Area Community College is pausing its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, or DEI, amid growing federal and state orders limiting or ending those programs entirely, according to an email obtained by the Des Moines Register and verified by school president Rob Denson.

That includes temporarily removing some training courses with “DEI components” and halting diversity commission and DEI task force meetings “until further notice,” officials said in the email sent Saturday to faculty and staff. The college also will comb through its websites, taking down mentions of DEI policies and reviewing them with directives from federal and state officials.

Advertisements

As of Monday evening, a web page sharing information on the diversity commission’s goals and members had been removed. 

“All of this is moving very quickly, and it is too soon to know whether or how this might affect DMACC,” officials wrote. “We are watching closely and seeking additional guidance, and we will communicate more definitive plans when we have them.”

DMACC’s announcement comes as President Donald Trump last week signed a flurry of executive orders closing DEI offices in all executive branch agencies, placing federal workers on paid administrative leave before permanently firing them by Jan. 31. Among many things, the U.S. Department of Education has dissolved its Diversity & Inclusion Council and taken down more than 200 web pages promoting diversity resources for schools.

Advertisements

Within 120 days of Trump’s order, the attorney general and education secretary will issue guidance to state and local education agencies that receive federal funds, as well as colleges and universities that receive federal grants or participate in federal student loan programs.

Advertisements

In the same week, Gov. Kim Reynolds sent each of Iowa’s three public universities a reminder to comply with a new state law that bans them from funding their DEI offices and blocks them from creating new ones. Lawmakers are considering a bill this session that seeks to expand that law to include community colleges, officials said in the email.

“We just want to make sure that we don’t fail to comply with whatever national or statewide laws that may come down,” Denson said.

Denson said he has yet to notify students of the changes but wants to assure them the school will continue to support them and their educational goals.

With six campuses serving thousands of students in central Iowa, DMACC is considered the state’s largest and most diverse community college. While nearly 70% of the college’s students are white, about 10% are Hispanic or Latino, about 8% are Black and a little over 4% are Asian, according to a 2024 report. More women (57%) also attended DMACC last year than men (43%), the report said.

“We’re an open access institution,” Denson said. “Any student who comes here should expect to be treated appropriately with a system to help them be successful, and that’s the bottom line.”

When asked if these changes could result in job losses, Denson said: “No. We don’t have a diversity department.”

“We have a lot of staff that are focused on student success, you know advisers, counselors, etc.,” he continued, “so no. Don’t expect that anybody’s job is at risk.”

Facebook Comments

Advertisements