Middle Tennessee State to dismantle DEI programs under state, federal orders

Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) will eliminate its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, President Sidney McPhee told students in a June 10 email.

A spokesman for the university provided a copy of the email to Campus Reform. According to the message, the school is still reviewing its activities and has been working to “sunset” various programs.

[RELATED: Williams College declines federal grants due over DEI ban]

“While MTSU has not functioned in a way that discriminates against students, faculty, staff or our overall community, the parameters of the President’s executive orders and Tennessee law requires us to reevaluate our operations to ensure that we remain in compliance around how we support students, nonacademic programs, and some academic support programs,” McPhee writes.

McPhee cites President Trump’s January executive order prohibiting universities that receive federal funds from promoting DEI, and a recently-passed Tennessee law, Public Chapter 458, also known as the “Dismantling DEI Departments Act.” 

To comply with the federal and state anti-DEI measures, the university has been taking action to readjust or eliminate “units, programs, and services that are explicitly focused on DEI efforts,” remove mentions of DEI on the school website, change scholarship programs with “DEI-based criteria,” and cease sponsoring DEI activities or “various affinity groups.”

“We are aware that these laws will impact our community in a way that will cause angst and frustration, and we want to assure you that our commitment to serving all students has not changed,” McPhee says.

[RELATED: Kent State to end DEI offices with new state law taking effect]

The Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs may possibly face changes in light of the university’s announcement. MTSU is also already subject to Tennessee’s Divisive Concepts Act, which bans mention of one race or sex being inherently superior to another.

Many colleges and universities have abandoned their DEI practices in recent months because of President Trump’s executive order. 

Within the past month, Purdue University, George Mason University, and the University of Nebraska have all moved to remove mentions of DEI, including renaming DEI offices; all cited the executive order as causing the changes.

Additionally, Harvard University’s School of Medicine announced it is changing the name of its DEI office “to better reflect its work going forward.”