WashU scrubs DEI language from websites as federal scrutiny mounts
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) has begun scrubbing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) statements from its websites as federal scrutiny of higher education continues.
In recent weeks, web pages across WashU’s departments — including its math, engineering, law, and design schools — have removed language about promoting inclusivity, equity, and 'antiracism.'
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) has begun scrubbing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) statements from its websites as federal scrutiny of higher education continues.
In recent weeks, web pages across WashU’s departments — including its math, engineering, law, and design schools — have removed language about promoting inclusivity, equity, and “antiracism.” The WashU Libraries deleted both a formal DEI commitment and the biography of its DEI director, according to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Previously, one DEI statement on WashU’s website said that the university’s “goal” was to “incorporate IDEA [Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access] and antiracism as an integral part of our practices, policies and culture.”
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After providing around a dozen examples of DEI “work” that the school would pursue, the page concluded, “We realize this work is difficult and must be ongoing. We will review and update our commitment to IDEA values over time.”
One WashU professor criticized the scaleback, saying it gave him “cause for concern” that the school might be “selling out their DEI programming,” according to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
On a July 9 archive of the website, however, the page has been removed, with navigating to the page now resulting in an error message.
Campus Reform reported in May that WashU announced a review of DEI policies, with a university committee investigating how the school can follow federal directives against such programming.
“Washington University in St. Louis has been reviewing its programs and activities in support of diversity, equity and inclusion,” the school wrote earlier this year..
“As the next step in this process, Chancellor Andrew D. Martin will appoint a committee to make recommendations to university leadership for how WashU can most effectively and efficiently achieve its community-focused goals and support its students, faculty and staff, while continuing to comply with federal guidance and laws,” the announcement continued.
Other Missouri schools have made similar moves this year. Missouri State University ended DEI initiatives in June, and the University of Missouri shut down its entire DEI division in July 2024.
In February, the Department of Education warned colleges they could lose federal funding if they fail to eliminate DEI programs, which the department says promote racial discrimination. The agency argues DEI policies illegally segregate students, impose race-conscious standards, and violate federal civil rights law.
WashU is a major federal grant recipient, pulling in over $730 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) last year, according to Student Life.
Campus Reform has contacted Washington University in Saint Louis for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
