Columbia College Chicago says DEI values remain despite program rebranding
Columbia College Chicago has removed references to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) online amid the ongoing federal crackdown against the controversial policy.
Rosita Sands, who was Columbia’s 'special advisor' for DEI, announced that the college will stand firm in its 'principles' and 'goals,' but will alter the names of its DEI initiatives.
Columbia College Chicago has removed references to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) online amid the ongoing federal crackdown against the controversial policy.
Rosita Sands, who was Columbia’s “special advisor” for DEI, announced that the college will stand firm in its “principles” and “goals,” but will change the names of its DEI initiatives, according to The Columbia Chronicle, the school’s student newspaper.
“The acronym DEI has been poisoned,” Sands explained. The former DEI advisor’s new title is “special advisor of Academic Access and Excellence.”
Web pages that formerly referenced DEI have been taken down and now display error messages, The Columbia Chronicle has reported. DEI-related courses will be relabeled “inclusive perspectives and pedagogy,” per Sands.
“We’re not changing anything in terms of our commitment or values,” Faculty Senate President Rojhat Avsar explained. “What’s changing here is clarifying our intentions, and making the point that those practices are non-discriminatory.”
Campus Reform reported in March about Columbia College Chicago’s commitment to DEI, with the school’s Interim President Jerry Tarrer saying that “DEI is in our blood” at a campus event.
The event, entitled,“Diversity Campus Town Hall,” encouraged students to attend “to discuss our ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion and our approach to addressing questions related to federal DEI directives.”
Columbia College Provost Marcella David has explicitly critiqued the Trump administration’s crackdown against DEI.
Campus Reform previously reported about the Department of Education’s Feb. 14 notice warning universities that they may lose federal funding if they do not remove DEI programs and initiatives.
“Discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin is illegal and morally reprehensible,” the Feb. 14 letter stated. “In recent years, American educational institutions have discriminated against students on the basis of race, including white and Asian students, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds and low-income families.”
[RELATED: Kentucky universities cancel LGBTQ, black grad ceremonies to comply with anti-DEI law]
“Proponents of these discriminatory practices have attempted to further justify them—particularly during the last four years—under the banner of ‘ diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (‘DEI’), smuggling racial stereotypes and explicit race-consciousness into everyday training, programming, and discipline,” the notice stated.
Columbia College is far from the first school to alter its online references to the controversial initiative. Schools such as the University of Southern California, the University of Alaska, Vanderbilt University, Northwestern University, the University of Michigan and the University of Notre Dame have removed references to DEI online.
Campus Reform has also reported that schools such as the University of Cincinnati, Michigan State University and East Carolina University have altered or eliminated DEI programs and policies they had previously implemented.
Campus Reform has contacted Columbia College for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
