Officials are assessing and working to understand the impact of a Department of Justice memo from late last month that issues guidance on diversity, equity and inclusion programs to institutions who receive federal funding, a University spokesperson said.
University spokesperson Shannon McClendon said GW’s Office of the General Counsel is conducting a “careful review” of the DOJ’s July 29 memo to understand how it may affect GW’s current approach to abiding by federal anti-discrimination laws. The memo, issued by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, provides guidance to federally funded organizations and warns of “significant legal risks” if institutions that are subject to federal anti-discrimination laws, like GW, engage in what the Trump administration defines as discriminatory practices, like DEI programs, or other initiatives based on protected characteristics.
McClendon said officials do not have a timeline for University counsel’s review of the memo, though the University will assess how to best communicate guidance and how to engage with community stakeholders following the review. She said federal agencies haven’t directly contacted University officials regarding the memo.
The DOJ did not return a request for comment about whether or not officials are evaluating any DEI program or practices at GW.
McClendon declined to comment on which stakeholders will be provided guidance once the review is complete or if students, staff and faculty will be consulted or involved in discussions about the future of DEI programs at the University.
“Our continued commitment to a supportive, welcoming and inclusive community environment while staying true to our educational mission remains unchanged,” McClendon said in an email.
Bondi’s memo provides examples of unlawful practices, including federally funded organizations that have race-based scholarships or programs that exclude applicants of other races, DEI training programs that require participants to separate into race-based groups and university DEI initiatives that designate a “safe space” exclusively for students of a specific racial or ethnic group.
The University offers merit-based and some need-based aid to undocumented students, and also highlights external opportunities for “diversity and inclusion” fellowships on its website, including scholarships and fellowship funds for students of a particular race — though the University does not internally fund them.
GW’s Office for Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement provides education and learning opportunities through trainings or workshops that cover topics including unconscious bias, race, anti-racism, ethnicity and decolonization. It is not clear whether those trainings require participants to separate into race-based groups.
GW’s Multicultural Student Services Center highlights on its website that it creates a “safe space” dedicated to building a “welcoming, enriching and inclusive environment” at GW by supporting the University’s diversity initiatives to ensure the same high quality experience for “all students.” Its work focuses on helping underrepresented undergraduate students that have a racial, ethnic or identity-based minority status, according to its website, and lists communities and identities it recognizes as minority, including Asian and Pacific Islander, Black, LGBTQIA, Latin, Native American and South Asian.
The memo recommendations to eradicate those unlawful practices include ensuring that all workplace programs, activities and resources are open to all qualified individuals regardless of race, sex or other protected characteristics and eliminating diversity quotas. It states the recommended best practices provided in the memo are “non-binding suggestions” to assist entities in avoiding “legal pitfalls” and “upholding equal opportunity for all.”
McClendon declined to comment on what language used in the memo is informing the review by University officials.
Officials first sent out a statement August 1 in a “Weekly Federal Update” email regarding the memo that said the University “can’t include or exclude” any individual from participating in any University program or resource on the basis of membership in a protected class until the review is complete. McClendon declined to elaborate on how the memo will impact students, faculty and staff while the review is underway.
The memo comes after a series of steps by President Donald Trump’s administration since his January inauguration to eradicate DEI practices throughout higher education. While dozens universities around the country — including seven of GW’s 12 peer schools — have closed or renamed their DEI offices since Trump’s inauguration, GW’s DEI practices have remained relatively unchanged.
While GW Law quietly dismantled its DEI website sometime after December 2024, according to web archives, the University’s DEI webpages for its other schools, colleges and graduate programs and the University-wide ODECE remain unchanged and accessible as of Thursday.
