Amidst a flurry of recent executive actions issued by President Donald Trump calling to discontinue initiatives aimed at diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), Macalester is seeking to weather the storm in a shifting landscape for higher education.
On Friday, Feb. 14, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights made waves on college campuses across the nation by sending letters to leadership of educational institutions, addressing them as “Dear Colleague.” This letter, despite stating that it “does not have the force and effect of law,” set an ultimatum for schools to discontinue practices that the letter defined as “racial discrimination” within 14 days or risk losing federal funding. These mandates are intended to be imposed on K-12 education and higher education.
Although the initial letter did not specify precisely what practices are defined as non-compliance, it did draw specific attention to “race-based decision-making” within hiring and promotion, merit awards, housing, admissions, disciplinary policies and educational programming. In response to a surge of pushback surrounding the lack of clarification and feasibility of enforcement, the Department of Education released a frequently asked questions document on Saturday, March 1. President Suzanne Rivera, however, did not receive the ‘Dear Colleague’ letter herself. Instead, the Department of Education sent the letter to former Macalester President Brian Rosenberg, who forwarded it to Rivera on Feb. 15.
“I presume this means their mailing list is out of date,” Rivera wrote in an email to The Mac Weekly. “Although the letter states that it does not have the force and effect of law, these kinds of letters customarily are used by federal agencies to inform grantees about regulatory interpretation. This is a way agencies can signal what they plan to focus on when it comes to enforcement. It is not clear how enforcement of the ‘Dear Colleague’ letter may impact federal funding to our campus.”
Macalester students, faculty and staff, sent via email on Thursday, Feb. 20, stated that Macalester “will not change who we are or what we stand for.” The announcement also notified the community that Rivera would hold space in the Alexander G. Hill Ballroom of Kagin Commons the following week on Thursday, Feb. 27 to address the “Dear Colleague” letter, as well as other political issues that impact the Macalester community.
These included Trump’s stated goal to abolish the Department of Education and Trump’s executive order intending to ban all transgender athletes from women’s sports and the following National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) policy change banning transgender athletes’ participation in Division-I sports.
Additionally, the intended National Institute of Health’s (NIH) implementation of a 15 percent cap on indirect expenses would impact higher education institutions’ ability to fund research. Trump’s executive orders authorizing Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) to arrest and detain individuals in previously protected spaces was also among the primary issues Rivera addressed.
Rivera’s response also highlighted that Macalester receives around $11 million in federal funding every year. According to Assistant Vice President for Admissions and Financial Aid Brian Lindeman ’89, around $8 million of the total $11 million comes in the form of Federal Student Aid — including Pell Grants, which make up around $2.26 million worth of funding, as well as work study awards, Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grants (SEOG) and Federal Direct Loans.
For the upcoming academic year, Macalester’s financial aid department has not made anticipatory changes to how they calculate or administer financial aid in response to uncertainty around federal funding, nor do they expect to change their practices.
“We believe that we have administered 2024-2025 Federal Student Aid in compliance with existing laws and have not made any changes to 2024-2025 financial aid packages in response to the Feb. 14 ‘Dear Colleague’ Letter,” Lindeman wrote in an email to The Mac Weekly. “We have also delivered hundreds of financial aid eligibility notifications to students who have been admitted for the 2025-2026 academic year. We have not altered those 2025-2026 notices of financial aid eligibility in response to the Feb. 14 Dear Colleague Letter.”
On Jan. 20, Trump signed an executive order that terminated DEI programs on a federal level, calling them “discriminatory,” “radical” and “wasteful.” The “Dear Colleague” letter itself implicitly likened DEI initiatives to “indoctrination” within educational institutions, a statement that the FAQ softened with its clarification that not all initiatives, policies and practices labeled as “DEI” will constitute grounds for defunding.
Macalester began exploring responses to current political pressures before they were applied in the form of the “Dear Colleague” letter. Vice President for Institutional Equity Alina Wong stated that she was disheartened but not surprised to receive news of the letter, given that she and other members of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) had been engaged with legal guidance and are continuously attending webinars on the issue.
This effort came as an attempt to anticipate “how to interpret the executive orders, the ‘Dear Colleague’ letter — what it may or may not mean, what also is legally binding, and what may not yet be legally binding, so we know what path we’re navigating,” according to Wong.
“Because many of the policy initiatives in question are subject to legal challenges, it’s not clear which of them may be found unconstitutional,” Rivera wrote. “Anticipatory obedience to rules that are not actually in place would not [be] prudent or aligned with the institution’s values.”
At other college campuses, responses have varied. On Thursday, Feb. 27, the same day that Rivera addressed the Macalester community in Kagin, Ohio State University President Ted Carter announced that the university would abolish its Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Center for Belonging and Social Change within 60 days. Other colleges, such as Westminster University, have released statements similar to Rivera’s, indicating a continued commitment to core values despite uncertainty.
Wong, who previously served as the Director of the Lealtad-Suzuki Center for Social Justice (LSC), shared her frustration with Trump’s policies.
“Diversity means that there are different people that you bring together in one space. Inclusion means we value the different experiences, perspectives, histories, narratives, literature, art, poetry, science, that we each bring to this space. Equity means that we all have access to the educational opportunities and possibilities that Macalester provides,” Wong said. “I think these should not be controversial. That is also why… almost all higher-ed institutions have divisions or programs around diversity, equity and inclusion — because it is saying we all have a right to our full humanity, and we all have a right to listen, and learn and grow from and with each other.”
Another focus of Rivera’s Feb. 20 address to the Macalester community was providing additional information about the college’s Immigration Response Guidance (IRG). Entrances to academic buildings on campus now bear paper reminders that academic buildings require keycard access, and that community members should not release personal information that violates the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which protect individuals’ privacy of information.
Should ICE agents arrive on campus, community members are directed to contact Public Safety at 651-696-6555, who will verify any warrants that agents possess and direct them to Associate Provost & Chief Data Officer Bethany Miller and Director of Human Resources Deb Ekeren to assess what actions the warrants require.
“Public Safety will verify the credentials and purpose of those on campus and direct them to the designated Campus Officials charged with the responsibility,” Director of Public Safety Robert Harri wrote in a Word document shared with The Mac Weekly. “This process will remain the same if the entity has an administrative subpoena or a warrant. We will not grant access to private areas unless directed to do so by the designated officials on campus.”
