On Friday, Jan. 31, President Tepper gave a statement to the Hamilton College community assuring that the administration will continue to monitor developments in federal higher education policy amidst an executive order banning Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs. Tepper pledged to give students, staff and faculty periodic updates to the changes made to Hamilton’s DEI policy. Following Tepper’s message, Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Sean Bennett opened discussion sessions for students to voice their concerns over the future of DEI policy at Hamilton.
The executive order “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” ends DEI programs in the federal government and calls for any federal contractors and subcontractors—including Hamilton College—to desist from said programs. This would end any programs based around race or gender as well as ban considerations of race or gender within college admissions. Additionally, the order plans to name nine colleges or universities with endowments over $1 billion to specifically target, which could include Hamilton. Further guidance is expected within 120 days from the departments of Justice and Education, although the latter has been targeted for gutting by the Department of Government Efficiency.
Additional executive orders that could affect Hamilton’s DEI policies include “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats” and “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” which place restrictions on all visas and bans support from non-governmental organizations for undocumented immigrants. Executive orders changing Title IX regulations, specifically “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” and “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” will rescind transgender students’ Title IX protections and ban transgender women from competing in women’s sports. While these executive orders do not specifically name DEI, they continue the trend of restricting the ability of colleges and universities to support transgender and immigrant students.
The initial response to the executive orders came from Tepper, who wrote, “Given the increasing complexity of the higher education policy landscape in recent weeks, I want to assure you that we are closely monitoring developments and will provide periodic updates to the community through forums such as SGA, Faculty Meetings, and Staff Assembly. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out—I will be happy to direct you to the appropriate office for guidance, resources, or further discussion on how these developments may impact you.”
Following up on this statement, Vice President Bennett held a series of discussions with the Hamilton community on the future of DEI policy. While the initial meetings were on the 5th and 6th of February, meetings will continue further into the year with both public and private options for students to talk with Bennett.
The Hamilton administration’s response to these executive orders emphasizes that they are aware of the difficulties involved but need to take their time in addressing the changes. In his second email opening up times for students to talk, Vice President Bennett said, “While the sheer volume of the recent executive orders have encouraged us to react with the mentality of a sprint, it is important to remind ourselves that this is a marathon. This is just a start to the important work we will do, as a community, over the coming weeks, months, and years.”
Despite these new restrictions, Tepper ended his statement by saying, “In the meantime, our core commitments remain unchanged: empowering every student to thrive at Hamilton on their journey to ‘know thyself’ and building the most powerful learning community imaginable.”
