Diversity in the Crosshairs: Trump Plan Mandates End to Race-Conscious Admissions

Diversity and inclusion initiatives at nine of America’s leading universities are in the crosshairs of a new White House proposal that mandates a complete ban on race- or sex-conscious admissions and hiring. This demand is a central feature of a “compact” that offers federal funding in exchange for sweeping policy changes, representing a major assault on affirmative action and related programs.
The plan, sent to a list of schools including Vanderbilt and the University of Virginia, seeks to fundamentally reshape their admissions processes. For decades, many of these universities have considered race as one of many factors in a holistic review of applicants, aiming to create a diverse student body. The compact would make this practice illegal for any institution wishing to receive federal funds.
This anti-diversity stance is coupled with a new restriction on globalism: a 15% cap on international undergraduates. Together, these two policies would make the student bodies of these elite institutions significantly less diverse, both domestically and internationally. Critics charge that the plan aims to reverse decades of progress toward making higher education more reflective of a pluralistic society.
The administration is using its financial power to force this change. The promise of “substantial federal grants” is the reward for compliance, while the threat of losing all federal support is the punishment for defiance. This puts university leaders who are committed to diversity in a direct conflict with the federal government’s agenda.
Opponents have labeled the proposal an attempt to “erase diversity” from college campuses. They argue that the administration is using a transactional deal to impose a narrow, exclusionary vision of what an American university should be. The move has reignited the national debate over affirmative action, with the federal government now taking its most aggressive stance yet to dismantle it.