Towson University to end standalone DEI plan, denies federal pressure
Towson University in Maryland will not renew its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategic plan after it expires this year.
The school insists the change has nothing to do with the federal government’s anti-DEI policies.
Towson University in Maryland will not renew its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategic plan after it expires this year.
The school insists the change has nothing to do with the federal government’s anti-DEI policies. This, despite an internal email acquired by The Towerlight, the school’s student-run newspaper, stating that the school decided to “reduce perceived risks.”
“The strategic plan is what we’re focused on now,” Patricia Bradley, vice president for the Office of Institutional Equity and Inclusion, told The Towerlight. “That has a pillar of inclusion, and we no longer felt the necessity to continue with the diversity strategic plan.”
Bradley is referencing the university’s comprehensive strategic plan, which includes a goal to adopt an “enrollment strategy” to advance diversity and remains in effect until 2030. The plan also mentions the goal of increasing the “diversity of student participants.”
“TU’s ongoing success is dependent on our capacity to shift perspectives and approaches and strategically place diversity, equity and inclusion at the core of our mission,” the plan states.
Statements in support of increasing diversity also remain on several Towson academic department websites as of publication, including those for the Department of Psychology, Department of Family Science, and Department of Sociology.
The link to the university’s DEI-specific plan, which was titled “A More Inclusive TU: Advancing Equity and Diversity,” now leads back to the website for the Office of Inclusion and Institutional Equity. The Wayback Machine, an internet archive, recorded a copy of the plan from February.
Initially published in 2020, the 46-page document aligns with national conversations around the “issues of institutional and systemic racism, inequality and social justice using an anti-racist lens.”
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“This plan is designed to meet TU’s aspiration to become a more inclusive and equitable institution of distinction,” it says.
The plan understands “diverse” to mean including many identities within the college community, such as “Body size,” “Citizenship status,” “Gender identity,” “Incarceration experience,” “Language,” “Neurodiversity,” “Political affiliation,” and “Sex assigned at birth.”
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to withhold federal funding from colleges that maintain DEI initiatives accused of promoting “dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences.”
Many universities have responded by removing DEI programs, including the University of Richmond and St. Louis University.
In November, Towson announced a plan to eliminate its Women’s and Gender Studies Department in fall 2026 due to low enrollment.
Campus Reform contacted Towson University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
