Less than you might have thought

You may have read that a judge blocked the anti-DEI rulings of the Trump administration as they applied to higher ed. Apparently, however, there was less to that ruling than you might have thought. From Inside Higher Ed:

...The plaintiffs who challenged the anti-DEI orders say the four-page [Dept. of Education] guidance letter is “inconsistent” with the judge’s ruling, which found that the language in the two anti-DEI executive orders was unconstitutionally vague. The judge blocked the Trump administration from terminating “equity-related” grants and investigating wealthy colleges. 

But the department says the injunction does not cover its guidance document. Outside higher education lawyers largely agree with the department and suggest that colleges should still prepare to comply. “My short-term or abbreviated thought would be to proceed with caution,” said Jackson Sharman III, a partner at Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC.

Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, doesn’t think there should be any confusion after the injunction. He said in a statement to Inside Higher Ed that the letter was based on federal law, such as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin, and the equal protection clause in the Constitution—not the president’s executive orders.

“While additional guidance is forthcoming, this isn’t complicated,” he said. “When in doubt, every school should consult the SFFA legal test contained in the DCL: ‘If an educational institution treats a person of one race differently than it treats another person because of that person’s race, the educational institution violates the law.’” ...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/politics-elections/2025/02/25/education-dept-dei-guidance-unaffected-court-order.

Here is what UC had to say about the letter:

...UC leadership across the system is working with members of our community to evaluate the potential impact and implications of the letter and will provide updates or guidance as appropriate. As many in our community are aware, the University of California has been operating under longstanding state law requirements and does not consider race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in our practices...

Source: https://ucop.edu/communications/_files/dei-program-letter-us-dept-of-education.pdf.

Translation: Because of the fact that California's anti-affirmative action Prop 209 is in effect, UC is already in compliance with the letter.

Will that rationale fly? Who knows?