US Department of Education Dear Colleague Letter & Announcement

• The Letter (released Feb. 14, 2025)

• The DOE Announcement
  
• DOE Frequently Asked Questions on Dear Colleague Letter

Responses to Dear Colleague Letter and Executive Orders on DEI

• Memo to University General Counsel from Law Professors, DEI Programs Are Lawful Under Federal Civil Rights Laws and Supreme Court Precedent, Feb. 20, 2025.

• AGs Memo, Multi-State Guidance Concerning Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Employment Initiatives, Feb. 13, 2025

• Pen America, PEN America Condemns Education Department’s Threat to Defund Schools Over DEI Programs, Feb. 15, 2025

• EdTrust, Eliminating DEI programs in Schools and Universities is an Economic and Educational Disaster in the Making, Feb. 17, 2025
  
• Massachusetts Governor and AG, Joint Guidance on Lawfully Promoting Access to Educational Opportunity, Feb. 26, 2025

Various Law Firm and Legal Analysis and Discussion

• Crowell, Executive Orders Relevant to Institutions of Higher Education, Feb. 19, 2025

• Education Counsel, Overreaching and Misleading: An Analysis of the U.S. Department of Education’s February 14, 2025, “Dear Colleague” Letter on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policies and Programs, Feb. 19, 2025

• Husch Blackwell, U.S. Department of Education Releases Dear Colleague Letter Addressing the Use of Race in Education, Announces Enforcement Forthcoming, Feb. 20, 2025
  
• Jackson Lewis, Trump 2.0 and Higher Education: Your Questions Answered, Feb. 28, 2025
  
• Jenner & Block, Client Alert: US Department of Education Issues Dear Colleague Letter Interpreting Students for Fair Admissions: What Colleges and Universities Need to Know, Feb. 18, 2025

• Littler Mendelson, U.S. Department of Education’s New “Dear Colleague” Letter Targets DEI Programs and Signals New Era of Title VI Enforcement, Feb. 18, 2025
  
• O’Melveny, Department of Education Issues Dear Colleague Letter Interpreting Scope of Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (SFFA), Feb. 21, 2025

• Reed Smith, Department of Education Dear Colleague letter foreshadows Title VI enforcement priorities, Feb. 17, 2025

• Venable, This is Not a Drill: Trump Administration ‘Dear Colleague’ Letter Virtually Eliminates Consideration of Race in Higher Education, Feb. 20, 2025

Other Coverage and Analysis

• American Council on Education, President Trump Executive Orders (EOs) and Executive Actions Impacting Higher Education, Feb. 15, 2025

• Education Civil Rights Blog, Regulation By Intimidation: OCR’s Title VI Dear Colleague Letter, Feb. 16, 2025

• EdWeek, Market Brief: How to Make Sense of the Trump Administration’s “Dear Colleague” Warning on Racial Preferences, Feb. 19, 2025

• JD Supra, OCR Issues Dear Colleague Letter Addressing DEI Programs Under Title VI, Feb. 20, 2025

• Liliana Garces, Hitting Pause on the ‘Dear Colleague’ Letter, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Feb. 18, 2025

• Liam Knox, After Sweeping Anti-DEI Guidance, What Should Colleges Do?, Inside Higher Education, Feb. 18, 2025

• Jasper Smith, Ed. Dept.’s Broad DEI Warning Puts College Leaders in ‘Enormously Complicated Situation’, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Feb, 18, 2025

• Scott White, Colleges React To Perceived Over-Reach Of Education Department’s ‘Dear Colleague’ Letter, Forbes, Feb. 19, 2025