St. Joe’s remains committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, despite a federal push to end DEI efforts at colleges and universities and punish those who persist in maintaining them.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Jan. 21 titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination And Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” which ordered all federal departments and agencies to terminate “illegal DEI discrimination and preferences” within 120 days.
The U.S. Department of Education followed with a ‘Dear Colleague’ Letter Feb. 14 that instructed educational institutions to terminate diversity, equity and inclusion policies within a 14-day period or risk losing federal funding. The letter stated, “The law is clear: treating students differently on the basis of race to achieve nebulous goals such as diversity, racial balancing, social justice, or equity is illegal under controlling Supreme Court precedent.”
DEI initiatives, rooted in 1960s anti-discrimination civil rights legislation, are programs and policies centered around combating the discrimination of underrepresented groups. Groups protected by DEI initiatives include women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ individuals, veterans, people of lower socioeconomic statuses, people with disabilities and immigrants.
In universities, DEI initiatives include student affinity groups, anti-bias training, pedagogy addressing inequality and identity-related scholarship programs.
Currently, St. Joe’s has made no changes to its DEI statements, policies and initiatives, including the “Diversity, Equity & Inclusion” page on the university website. The official diversity statement reads, in part, “Our understanding of diversity prevents any individual from being excluded from this community on the grounds of race, color, gender, sexual orientation, religion, national or ethnic origin, disability, age, marital status or class.”
Kelly Welsh, assistant vice president of communications, wrote in an email to The Hawk that St. Joe’s views “our commitment to inclusion, equity, diversity and belonging through the lens of faith and our mission.”
“The human dignity of all is a moral and spiritual imperative,” Welsh said.
On Feb. 21, U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from cutting “equity-related” grants and enforcing punishments against colleges and universities with endowments worth over $1 billion. On March 14, the block was lifted by an appeals court, allowing executive orders to be carried out while the lawsuits advance.
In response to the Jan. 21 executive order, the University of Pennsylvania scrubbed its primary DEI website — now renamed “Belonging at Penn” — of information about demographics, inclusion programs and student affinity groups. Penn also changed the position title of vice dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into vice dean for Academic Excellence and Engagement, as reported by The Daily Pennsylvanian, Penn’s student newspaper.
Temple University also announced it would be reviewing its DEI policies to meet federal guidelines in response to the Feb. 14 letter, as reported by The Temple News, Temple’s student newspaper.
The letter primarily targets public institutions, but it raises questions about whether private universities like St. Joe’s, which also benefit from federal funding, could face consequences if they maintain their DEI initiatives.
As a private institution, St. Joe’s operates under a different financial model than public universities like Temple. While public universities receive a large portion of their funding through state government appropriations, private universities are funded mostly by tuition fees, endowments and sponsorships. Private universities do, however, receive federal funding indirectly through research grants, student financial aid and work-study programs.
Welsh said the university understands there are many questions given the current uncertainty about the future of DEI programs.
“Saint Joseph’s University is leveraging our professional networks and monitoring evolving federal guidance,” Welsh said. “This includes the Feb. 14 Department of Education’s ‘Dear Colleague’ letter, which the Department acknowledges is not law.”
Welsh said St. Joe’s Jesuit mission “serves as our compass in navigating these discussions and decisions.”
Organizations like the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities have released statements in support of DEI initiatives. In their discussion paper, “Just Universities: Reflections on the Contributions of DEIB to the Mission of Jesuit Higher Education,” the AJCU states DEIB (diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging) work is an “essential dimension” of the Jesuit mission.
This mirrors statements made at other Jesuit universities like Georgetown University, where law school dean William Treanor, J.D., Ph.D., said DEI threats are attacks on the Jesuit mission, as reported in The Hoya, Georgetown’s student newspaper.
Chloe Palm-Rittle ’26, secretary of DEI for University Student Senate, said St. Joe’s is in a unique position as a Jesuit institution to uphold DEI efforts. As secretary of DEI, Palm-Rittle works closely with administration to ensure university actions follow the Jesuit values of “cura personalis” (care for the whole person) and “come as you are.”
“I think that really sums up what we are trying to do as a Senate: really hold steadfast in our Jesuit beliefs, and what I think the administration will continue to do,” Palm-Rittle said. “I don’t foresee anything changing in the way St. Joe’s upholds our Jesuit values, but, if at any point, it does, the Student Senate will be steadfast in making sure that we do continue to adhere by that.”
Having a diverse campus community where students feel supported is important, said Milton O’Brien ’25, president of Student Senate.
“There’s different people that have different needs, and we want to make sure that all students feel like they belong at St. Joe’s,” O’Brien said. “For that to be the case, we have to make sure that we are providing the resources, we are making sure that they have anything that they need in order for them to feel that this is home for them.”
Although the Feb. 14 letter is not law, it could potentially result in a loss of funding due to the vague definitions of what DEI entails, said Kelly Benjamin, media and communications strategist for the American Association of University Professors. Abelson blocked Trump’s Jan. 21 executive order partially on the basis that it lacked a clear definition of DEI.
According to Benjamin, the American Association of University Professors has joined a lawsuit describing the DEI executive orders as “[threatening] academic freedom.”
“Ultimately, presidents and administrations need to publicly defend their institutions’ core values, and those values should include access to higher education for all and higher education as a public good in our society, and that’s really what these initiatives of diversity, equity and inclusion have always been about,” Benjamin said.
O’Brien said the university’s continued promotion of events like Day of Dialogue reflects the university’s continued support of DEI initiatives.
“It’s part of our DNA to make sure that people feel that they belong at St. Joe’s, no matter who they are,” O’Brien said.
