Have you read the “Dear Colleague” love letter from Craig Trainor, the Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights with the United States Department of Education? The letter was released on Valentine's Day and quickly circulated among higher education professionals. In the final minutes of our last all-staff meeting, a colleague passed copies of the letter around the boardroom.
As a staff member read passages aloud, my biology replied. My head filled with rage, and my hands itched with a desire to write. The letter's phrases, such as "treating students differently on nebulous goals such as diversity, racial balancing, and social justice," produced internal tension and provoked a need to reply.
I was not after blood or contemplating any form of a violent response. Violence doesn’t make sense to nonsensical threats. I left the meeting with an urge to do something.
After work, I abandoned the compulsion to react to Trainer’s letter. I tried to follow the advice I’ve delivered on this platform.
It’s important to keep our professional lives separate from personal affairs.
The following day, I opened a group chat and clicked on Suan Harper’s response to the “Dear Colleague” letter published with Inside Higher Ed. Here are his 11 strategies for supporting DEI work in response to the Acting Secretary’s latest threat:
1. Maintain mission fidelity
2. Show your work
3. Show your racial equity data
4. Show racial discrimination data trends
5. Assess the campus racial climate
6. Rely on evidence
7. Insist on evidence
8. Articulate consequences
9. Ensure reporting equity
10. Humanize DEI professionals
11. Form coalitions
I processed Harper’s suggestions and identified a common theme.
Solidarity.
This is not a moment for us to respond as individual champions for diversity. We must build a team and stand together to support inclusive learning environments. At the center of DEI is inclusivity.
It is about creating spaces for people of diverse racial, gender, sexual, ability, age, and socioeconomic identities. You know this, but I am reminding you in case the conservative anti-DEI agenda infiltrates your thinking.
DEI programs, courses, policies, and services are not divisive. They are critical components in correcting past injustices to make present society more equitable.
When I returned to the office on Monday, I took a copy of the letter and pinned it to the wall near my computer. It reminds me why I do the work I feel called to do with my life.
Advocating for diversity, “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop.” In 2004, Young Gunz made the song "Can't Stop Won't Stop." The phrase also became the title of a book on hip-hop's history.
The slogan remains true for our work today.
On this final day of Black History Month, transform your frustrations into fuel. There was no love in Trainor's letter, despite it being distributed on Valentine's Day. My dear comrades, invest in your health and wellness, and please continue efforts to support diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, belonging, and justice.
That is my call to you: February 28, 2025.
Will you answer? I will wait and see who responds in the comments below.
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