One week after GW announced it had begun its two-yearlong reaccreditation process, President Donald Trump issued an executive order targeting diversity, equity and inclusion practices within the college accreditation system.
Prior to Trump’s executive order, Provost Chris Bracey said at a Faculty Senate meeting last month that the Middle States Commission on Higher Education will serve as GW’s accrediting body to verify its quality as an academic institution and ensure its eligibility for Title IV funds, like financial aid grants and other federal support. Experts in higher education said Trump’s executive order is unlikely to hinder the University’s reaccreditation status, but GW could opt to remove DEI language from its practices while still upholding its commitment to providing a welcoming environment for students in an effort to avoid potential complications tied to the order.
The reaccreditation process consists of multiple steps, including a two-yearlong self-study, which launched in fall 2024 and requires the University to self-evaluate its mission, quality, student success and resources. The self-study is paired with a final report by Middles States and an on-site visit from Middle States’ volunteer reviewers from peer institutions to decide accreditation action, according to GW’s website.
Officials will share a draft of the self-study with the GW community next summer, according to the Office of the Provost’s website.
Trump’s executive order directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to terminate or suspend the department’s recognition of higher education accreditors if they require institutions seeking accreditation to engage in “unlawfully discriminatory practices,” like diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Higher education institutions must have accreditation status to operate under federal law.
Michael Bowden, the University’s Middle States liaison and vice president of institutional field relations, visited GW last month and held an event for students, faculty and staff to learn more about the expectations of the upcoming reaccreditation process, like the self-study process. Bowden said at the event Middle States has DEI principles in its standards, and the body currently has “no plans” of removing those principles.
He said Middle States is “engaged” with the Trump administration “at least” twice a week and added DEI initiatives are specific to an institution’s mission.
“They’re actually engaging with us and trying to figure out how this all works, and the message that we’re giving them is that DEI is not exactly what you think it might be, but it’s specific to an institution’s mission,” Bowden said.
Paul Gaston, the Trustees professor emeritus at Kent State University, said GW’s reaccreditation likely won’t be impacted by the executive order because “no” regional accreditor would make an institution comply with a standard, like required DEI initiatives, that they felt violated federal or state law.
“That is not going to happen and and for that reason, I think that there has always been a great measure of autonomy for accredited institutions, and that is the case here as well,” Gaston said.
He said most of the seven regional accreditation bodies make some reference to values related to DEI in their standards. He said universities might benefit from changing the wording of certain programs while maintaining the same standards.
“What I’m saying is that I think that it is possible to sustain important values and to find a different vocabulary, if the vocabulary that is being used to criticize them has somehow taken on a kind of life of its own,” Gaston said.
Heather Perfetti, the president of the Middle States and chair of the Council of Regional Accrediting Commissions — a group of seven agencies that oversee the accreditation of the vast majority of the United States’ public and private nonprofit colleges — issued a statement last week on behalf of the council in response to the executive order, writing that the council “firmly” rejects Trump’s “mischaracterization” of accreditors’ role in higher education. But Perfetti added the council was “ready to work” with McMahon on policies to advance the two bodies’ “shared mission,” including the quality, innovation, integrity and accountability of education.
“Additionally, to the extent any accrediting agency has standards related to diversity, equity or inclusion, they are predicated on institutions implementing such requirements in accordance with applicable state and federal laws,” Perfetti said in the statement.
All seven regional accreditors mention values related to DEI on their websites or in documents detailing their values, though at least two, including the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and the Higher Learning Commission, removed pages related to DEI, according to their websites.
Bracey said at a Staff Council meeting last week that the University made adjustments to its DEI practices after a review of its policies revealed that some of them “ran up against” federal law, but he did not specify what adjustments officials made or when. Officials also declined to comment last month after GW Law shut down its diversity, equity and inclusion website sometime after December 2024.
George Kuh, a professor emeritus of higher education at Indiana University, said Trump’s executive order targeting accreditors is his “secret weapon” in his “war” against higher education and prestigious universities because accreditors are federally approved agencies.
“There’s absolutely no evidence that DEI is in some way eroding or detracting from the quality of student learning,” Kuh said. “I mean, just none.”
Kuh said University leaders will seek guidance from Middle States on how to use the word DEI appropriately and on how to “finesse” the issue. He said it is the “instinct” of institutions to continue to make quality education and provide welcoming learning environments to all students.
He said many universities will try to maintain current DEI standards while making them less obvious to outside observers who might target those initiatives.
“They may take out a different name,” Kuh said.
GW was last accredited in 2018 and is expected by Middle States to conduct the self-study every eight years to reaffirm its accreditation, where it outlined strengths and weaknesses of the University. Officials said during the last accreditation process in 2o18 that the University did well in supporting its international students and in the Center for Career Service’s facilitation of students’ career goals, while emphasizing room for improvement on issues such as international diversity and retention rates.
The reaccreditation process includes the creation of a steering committee, which is co-chaired by Maria Frawley, a professor of English, and Karen Froslid-Jones, the associate provost for academic planning and assessment. The group is also comprised of 18 members faculty, staff and administrators who provide guidance and oversee the accreditation process.
Working groups consisting of members of the steering committee and other administration officials are tasked with a specific aspect of the self-study that corresponds with one of Middle States’ seven standards, according to the Provost Office’s website.
Middle States standards include the upholding of the University’s mission and goals, ethics and integrity, design and delivery of the student learning experience, supporting the student experience, educational effectiveness assessment, planning, resources and institutional improvement and government, leadership and administration, according to their website.
Gianna Jakubowski contributed reporting.
