The U.S. Department of Education (ED) issued a sweeping letter Friday warning federally funded educational institutions, including Stanford, against race-conscious admissions, financial aid, hiring and campus life practices, threatening the “potential loss of federal funding” to institutions that do not comply within two weeks.
ED Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor signed the letter, which the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) posted online. It cites the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which overturned affirmative action in college admissions, stating, “Although SFFA addressed admissions decisions, the Supreme Court’s holding applies more broadly.”
The University also received the letter into its inbox, according to University president Jonathan Levin ’94.
“We are carefully studying this latest letter to see whether any further actions are required on the part of the university,” University communications vice president Farnaz Khadem wrote in an email to The Daily.
The directive orders institutions to halt race-based decision-making and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across a broader range of practices than the Supreme Court prescribed, including “hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life.”
The letter adds that the ED will “take appropriate measures to assess compliance” with its interpretation of the Supreme Court ruling within 14 days, and that non-compliant institutions could lose federal funding.
At a Faculty Senate meeting on Jan. 23, Levin said the University would review or modify programs “under the DEI heading” in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting DEI. Since January, information and commitments to diversity have also been removed from several University websites.
Since the 1970s, the University has offered ethnic theme houses aimed at celebrating identities and establishing community around them. These include Casa Zapata, Muwekma-Tah-Ruk, Okada and Ujamaa.
The ED letter also states that schools “may not use students’ personal essays, writing samples, participation in extracurriculars, or other cues as a means of determining or predicting a student’s race.” Following the Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action, which still allowed institutions to consider how race shaped applicants’ lives, some colleges introduced new essay questions that asked applicants to reflect on their “cultural background” or “lived experiences.”
Data released by the University in January showed a 49.4% decrease in Black student enrollment and a 14.4% decrease in Latino student enrollment for the Class of 2028, the first admitted class since the Supreme Court ruling.
Provost Jenny Martinez previously told the Stanford Report, “We are committed to working aggressively to continue seeking diversity through legal means, including through the further expansion of our outreach to high-achieving students from underserved populations, and to fostering community for our students here on campus.”
This story is breaking and will be updated.