On March 27, the University of Michigan announced it was cutting all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs. The Michigan Daily Opinion section received a multitude of letters to the editor in response. Students, staff and alumni wrote the following collection.
“At what point does President Ono stand his ground and stick up for this community?”
The current presidential administration isn’t going to stop demanding concessions from our public universities. Diversity, equity and inclusion is just the first step, and our university has to be aware of this. What happens when President Donald Trump threatens our funding over another baseless attack on public education? What stops him from writing another executive order that erodes our institutions even further? At what point does University of Michigan President Ono stand his ground and stick up for this community? This removal of DEI was cowardly and only emboldens those who wish to destroy meaningful education and community enrichment for our generation. Our schools should not be shackled to the broken, hateful politics of the Republican party or the current president, but to the students that pay thousands to be here.
Nathaniel Evans, LSA Student, natevan@umich.edu
“Silence is not an option”
As an architect and advocate for inclusive design, diversity, equity and inclusion are not abstract ideals but essential to fostering innovation, critical thinking and a more just, built environment. These principles should be embedded in every aspect of education and professional practice, and the dismantling of DEI infrastructure at the University of Michigan risks reversing decades of progress. The decision to end DEI offices and programs — especially in response to external political pressures — sends a discouraging message about the institution’s commitment to supporting underrepresented voices and ensuring that all students, faculty and staff feel a true sense of belonging. It is devastating to see politics take precedence over the well-being of students, faculty and staff who have fought so hard for equity and inclusion. This is about real people with real challenges, whose opportunities and sense of belonging are now at risk.
The University has been a leader in shaping future generations of architects and designers. I urge Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning to find ways to maintain and reinforce a commitment to equity in admissions, faculty recruitment, curriculum development and student support, regardless of the shifting national landscape.
There is another aspect to University President Ono’s email that made me feel sick to my stomach. The letter was issued one week after Giving Blueday. I can’t help but wonder if this was purposefully planned so as not to impact donor contributions with the impending ending of DEI offices and programs.
I was so disheartened by the directives set forth by Ono and the actions that will take place by the Office of the General Counsel that I considered not attending the upcoming Alumni Council meeting in April. But after reflecting on what’s at stake, I realized that silence is not an option. It is more important than ever to be in the room and to make my voice heard. I am looking forward to the TCAUP Alumni Council meeting in April and the opportunity to discuss how the school intends to respond to these changes and how those of us outside the University can support efforts to uphold the values of inclusivity and excellence in education.
Parini Mehta, alum and Alumni Council member for Taubman College, Parini.Mehta@gmail.com
“Stand for progress, not against it.”
I’m writing in utter disbelief and outrage over the decision to gut diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the University of Michigan. This decision is more than a bureaucratic shift. This decision is a betrayal of the very principles that define higher education: progress, inclusivity and the pursuit of knowledge for all.
Diversity, equity and inclusion are not mere buzzwords. They are the foundation upon which a truly great institution stands. They ensure that students from all backgrounds have an equal opportunity to succeed. To dismantle these initiatives is to send a clear and devastating message: that some students matter more than others, that systemic barriers to success are acceptable and that the University is willing to turn its back on marginalized communities for the sake of appeasing political pressures.
Provosts, do you not see what you are doing? The University is supposed to be a leader, a beacon of progress and innovation. And yet, with this move, you align yourselves not with the future, but with the forces of oppression. Without DEI, underrepresented students will be left without crucial support. Faculty and staff of Color, who already face disproportionate obstacles in academia, will be further alienated. The campus will become a place of exclusion, not excellence.
Education should challenge, uplift and empower. By cutting DEI, you are actively choosing to make this University weaker, less just and less prepared for the world it claims to serve. Stand for progress, not against it. The University must do better.
Caden Mattingly, Public Health senior, cadenm@umich.edu
“History will not view this moment with kindness”
Like probably every other University of Michigan alum, the University will forever hold a special place in my heart and in my memories. It was the perfect place to take my first steps into the world outside my home, discover what I was meant to do with what talent I had and figure out how I wanted to be remembered by the community I had left behind. It was a place where I made lifelong friends, where I learned important and sometimes challenging lessons and where I met inspirational people who mentored me through my career. It was a place that I embraced, and it embraced me too.
What made my experience — and arguably every alum’s experience — so life-changing and worthwhile is the fact that you are constantly confronted with the richest diversity of experiences, perspectives and livelihoods. From student to professor, caretaker to administrator, athlete to coach, you will find someone from every walk of life, every possible religious group, ethnicity, race, sexuality, culture, nation and tongue. If you can think of it, there’s probably already a club for it. It’s not just a vision and a promise for what the University can be, but a vision for America as well.
To see the University turn its back on this vision to appease the lowest, self-aggrandizing and frankly insufferable subsect of our population is not just heartbreaking, but utterly contemptuous. It should remind us all that progress is never won, but it must constantly be fought for. Every attempt there has ever been to give marginalized groups a leg up in this society — affirmative action, equal opportunity, and yes, DEI — there are people who have vehemently rejected it. People who are selfish enough to believe that opportunity is a zero-sum game where if Black people, women, Queer people, poor people or some other minority group is offered the chance to excel, then someone else must be falling behind. I am here as a testament that is blatantly false.
To the University administration who made this horrible, regressive decision: Shame on you. You are supposed to be here to show us — your community who has paid your salaries, drummed up your reputation and made you what you are today — strength, and you showed us cowardice. History will not view this moment with kindness but with judgement — and deservedly so. Act accordingly.
Kjersti Swanson, alum, kjersti@umich.edu
“I’m sick and fucking tired of universities capitulating to that son of a bitch”
So, yeah, the school I had once been proud to have attended, worked for and graduated from — the University of Michigan — has caved to President Donald Trump’s administration and cancelled diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. My diploma is already in the trash and the school’s name removed from my resume, and I will be joining protests on campus. I’m probably spiting myself, but I’m sick and fucking tired of universities capitulating to that son of a bitch. This is an affront to everything I and my fellow alumni had learned during our time there, which included tolerance, respect for others and empathy. Please, please, everyone: Help stop the madness. This is not the country we grew up in, and we’re better than this.
Jim Utsler, alum, jimutsler23@gmail.com
“I expected more. We all did.”
As an alum of the University of Michigan, I write today with profound disappointment at the decision to shut down the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
This move is a betrayal of the values that once made the University a leader among institutions of higher learning. We proudly called ourselves “leaders and best,” but this action suggests we’re just like the rest. Folding under political pressure and dismantling a decade of meaningful progress is not leadership — it is cowardice. It tells students and alumni that the values of equity, access and inclusion are expendable when convenience or politics demand it.
The University used to stand as a beacon — now it feels like we’re just another institution backing down. I expected more. We all did.
I urge you to reconsider this decision. Restoring and defending DEI is not only the right thing to do — it’s what sets the University apart. Or at least it used to.
Antonio J. Paz, alum, antoniop@skaengineers.com
“People are not disappeared in a free country”
University of Michigan President Ono and the U-M community need to understand that this is not the last time we will have to choose between standing up or buckling under.
The authoritarian slide in our country advances through the choices we make. We can justify our silences by telling ourselves that by going along we are protecting something or someone else. Or we can admit to ourselves that we are choosing inaction out of fear, hopelessness and self-interest.
But seemingly small choices will add up, gather momentum and ultimately sweep away everything we care about as Americans.
People are being grabbed up by masked government agents, jailed, deported and sent to foreign prisons. No trials. No judges. No evidence. No way out.
Here’s what I know: People are not disappeared in a free country.
Small choices add up. Even when they seem inconsequential or feckless, like leaving a voicemail for your elected officials, carrying a sign at a protest or writing a letter to the editor.
Do I feel helpless? Yes. Do I think writing a letter will matter? I don’t know.
Giving in to authoritarianism — even in small ways — will drag us all down.
But I want to believe that if enough people choose to call out fascism when they see it, those choices can also gather momentum, show others that they are not alone and keep us in the fight for what’s right.
Thomas Knox, alum, tknox@umich.edu
“The honorable thing for you to do is to resign your respective positions”
To the Board of Regents and President Ono,
You are now complicit in the Trump Regime’s movement to transform the United States from a democracy to a totalitarian state by acquiescing to their demand of eliminating all facets of the university of Michigan’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. As any hostage negotiator would advise: Never to yield to the demands of a kidnapper. You, however, have done just the opposite: By doing so, you have placed the University on the slipperiest of slopes. How long will it be before the Trump administration returns with demands to eliminate aspects of the science curriculum, discard reference to the genocidal policy toward Native Americans in the 18th and 19th centuries, include holocaust denial as a legitimate intellectual viewpoint, deny LGBTQ+ access to health services and more? What will you do then? History is a great predictor of the future; Therefore, it is probable you would acquiesce once again.
The University of Michigan is a public institution. It belongs to the people: its students, faculty and alumni. The funding that the Regime threatened to withhold is derived from the taxes paid by the public and does not belong to the Regime. By ceding to the demands of the Regime, you have put freedom of speech, legitimate intellectual pursuit, recognition of the strength of our racial and ethnic diversity and serious political discourse, among other things, at great risk not only for the University but universities, colleges and K-12 schools throughout the country.
By taking these actions, you have violated the trust of students, faculty and the general public — the same people that pay your bills. Therefore, the honorable thing for you to do is to resign your respective positions with the hope that your replacements will stand strong against what is surely to be an unwavering onslaught by the Regime.
Steve Kaplan, alum, stevekaplanconsulting@gmail.com
“If we truly want to be a frontrunner in making the world a better place, there is no better place to start than on our own campus.”
I wholeheartedly believe that the removal of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the University of Michigan will be a stain on the University’s reputation for a long time. Many do not know what it is like to walk in our buildings, to wear the maize and blue with pride, so what our university makes public is the representation the world sees us as. Growing up in Ann Arbor, we as kids learned U-M culture as well as the legacy of what it means to proudly wear the block ‘M.’ Often, we had speakers coming into our schools touting “The Leaders and Best”. We learned that the best in the world attend this university, and in turn, it is a frontrunner in justice and creating an equitable environment for all. As of Thursday, I fear that this is no longer our true identity.
The recent act of slashing DEI from our university is not only inequitable but against who we are as an institution. If we truly want to be a frontrunner in making the world a better place, there is no better place to start than on our own campus. This month, our university administration was faced with a choice: either stand up for what is right and just, or submit in hopes of being spared. It is clear that our current university administration would prefer to slip into the shadows just to keep those at the top happy rather than do what is right. Whether it’s funding cuts, bad press, or even blackmail, leaders stand true to their core beliefs; not back down in the face of danger. The removal of DEI from our institution, whether we like it or not, is the university willingly backing off the stage when it comes to the top universities in the country.
“We shy away from no challenge or opponent; We bow to no man; We bow to no program; We are Michigan.”
Paul Hrabosky, Secondary Education student, phrabosk@umich.edu
The post Re: UMich announces cuts to all DEI programs | From: Students and alumni appeared first on The Michigan Daily.
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