How Colleges’ Anti-DEI Policies Affect Campus Racial Climate

New York

EdTrust–New York is a statewide education policy and advocacy organization focused first and foremost on doing right by New York’s children. Although many organizations speak up for the adults employed by schools and colleges, we advocate for students, especially those whose needs and potential are often overlooked.

West

EdTrust–West is committed to dismantling the racial and economic barriers embedded in the California education system. Through our research and advocacy, EdTrust-West engages diverse communities dedicated to education equity and justice and increases political and public will to build an education system where students of color and multilingual learners, especially those experiencing poverty, will thrive.

Massachusetts

The Education Trust team in Massachusetts convenes and supports the Massachusetts Education Equity Partnership (MEEP), a collective effort of more than 20 social justice, civil rights and education organizations from across the Commonwealth working together to promote educational equity for historically underserved students in our state’s schools.

Higher Education

Social, Emotional and Academic Development

How Colleges’ Anti-DEI Policies Affect Campus Racial Climate

August 29, 2023 by EdTrust

Students walking across a college campus

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s limitation on the use of affirmative action, some states and colleges are doing away with their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs (see the map below). However, we argue that there needs to be even greater efforts on college campuses to support the belonging and success of students of color, not fewer.

Students of color often experience college differently than their White peers because of the negative attitudes, behavior, and practices that some peers and faculty have toward students of color due to their race and/or ethnicity.

All of this factors into a college’s campus racial climate, a term that is used to describe the current attitudes, behaviors, and practices of faculty, staff, and students at a higher education institution toward students based on their race or ethnicity. This further justifies the need for more diversity on campus.

To find out how campus racial climates affect students of color, Ed Trust interviewed 32 Black, Latino, and Asian American college students enrolled at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) in 15 states to learn about their experiences on campus.

Here are just a few quotes:

“I know that we have diversity courses and professors can opt out. How do you opt out of diversity?”

–Jessica, Latina student

“My first class, I was in a big 300 people lecture. Five minutes before class and I’m seeing that not a single of them was Black and I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ I just felt so out of place.

–Andrew, Black student

“There are no business teachers that are Latino or even just people of color. [The school] claims racial diversity in terms of students, but you’ve got to have a racially diverse group of teachers to really facilitate and promote racial diversity in classrooms.”

–Kevin, Latino student

“My imposter syndrome has gone through the roof. I’ve worked hard to get into my university and now that I’m here, it’s so hard to feel like I belong here and I feel like sometimes, the professors make that worse.”

–Sabrina, Black student

In a digital report, we explain the four dimensions of campus racial climate, and offer recommendations at every level — institutional, state, and federal — on how to create positive campus climates that are racially and ethnically diverse, welcome students of color, and allow them to be their authentic selves.