AKRON, Ohio — After 28 years, the University of Akron has decided not to budget for the Rethinking Race forum due to an executive order banning Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order, “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs,” which bans DEI initiatives while also putting a pause on Special Observances throughout the year. According to a memo referenced by ABC News, those include:
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday
- Black History Month
- Women’s History Month
- Holocaust Day/Days of Remembrance
- Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month
- Pride
- Juneteenth
- Women’s Equality Day
- National Hispanic Heritage Month
- National Disability Employment Awareness Month
- National American Indian Heritage Month
The pause will not affect federal holidays, the memo reads.
“[DEI has] been destructive in Ohio's public colleges and universities. DEI is effectively institutionalized discrimination, and while some people may have had their hearts in the right place when it started, it has proven to be a destructive force. It has not improved race relations. It has actually encouraged discrimination of people who don't fit certain narratives, and that is not allowed in our Constitution,” Ohio Senator Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland) told me Wednesday evening.
Sen. Cirino said he is hoping this executive order will rid the country, especially higher education, of DEI immediately.
“Ohio State, for example, spends $14 million a year on their DEI department and they have 144 people. Dismantling that should not be too difficult to do,” Sen. Cirino said. “There's no reason why it should take a long time. Nobody is really depending on DEI. In Ohio, I want every student who wants to attend a university or community college to have that opportunity — an equal opportunity.”
Institutions like the University of Akron are already looking to get in line with the executive order.
While the University offers a variety of events for students and the community, we must do so in the context of a state institution that is required to abide by law, regulations and guidance at both the federal and state levels, from which we receive funding. As a result of that guidance, the University has decided not to budget for Rethinking Race this year.
The forum used to be held annually during Black History Month but was held in the fall of last year.
“Therefore, no programming had been scheduled for 2025,” a University of Akron spokesperson added.
We stopped by the University of Akron Wednesday night to get students’ reactions, and the two we spoke with described the cancellation as disappointing.
“I think it is insanely important for us to have those types of programs because I feel like everyone's not obviously getting the amount of love and support they need, so by weeding those away, you're kind of getting rid of some people's support,” University of Akron sophomore Skye Deluia explained.
While Deluia understands the magnitude of a presidential executive order, she’s hopeful the University will reconsider.
“As they're making these decisions, [I’d suggest] finding other ways to keep those things in some aspect around [and] not completely annihilate it. It is very upsetting, but I'm just a student here. If it were up to me, I would keep something but unfortunately, it's not,” she stated.
Another University of Akron student, Mis’cha Sellers, agrees and couldn’t believe the news of the cancellation.
“They're trying to do away with people's voices and their culture. That kind of just makes you feel like they're minimizing us in a way,” Sellers stated. “It honestly just makes me sad. I’m overwhelmed and disappointed.”
Sellers is also asking the University of Akron to reevaluate its decision not to fund Rethinking Race this year.
“I know a lot of it is probably out of their control, but I wish there was something we could do to reconsider these options or something else other than accepting it. It's disappointing,” Sellers added.
The University of Akron will still host a wide variety of other Black History Month events.
"The University of Akron is evaluating its programming and looks forward to sharing ideas for new campus and community programming as they develop," a University of Akron spokesperson said.
Back in Cleveland, dozens of protesters showed up at Willard Park Wednesday afternoon to voice their opposition to the Trump administration’s policies, like the DEI ban.
“I'm a non-binary person and what has happened in just two weeks of Trump's presidency is intolerable,” Tori Hutchinson said. “In a single executive order, he has declared that non-binary and trans people essentially don't exist, that our rights don't matter, that we cannot be who we are.”
Hutchinson said it took them years to be comfortable with who they were, and with Trump’s recent decisions, it feels like they took five steps backward.
“DEI is making it so that people of all races, of all gender identities, sexualities are safe wherever they are, whether that's school or work,” Hutchinson added.
Another protester, John Corley, told me he feels as if the DEI ban is a way to rid the U.S. of the LGBTQ+ community and anyone of color.
“I think that it is outrageous that the institutions that play are capitulating to Trump. They're trying to make us give up before even trying, but we are the many and it is absurd that they're trying to blame all of the problems of the United States on people of different color as if it was purely white people somehow the country would be better, but it wouldn't,” Corley stated.
Corley said it’s protests like Wednesday’s that show people will not be bystanders to policies they disagree with.
“The entire country is starting to rise up, and I know the people that voted for Trump are nervous and they're scared right now, and they should be because we will not stand for this. We will not stand for people treating the disenfranchised so poorly,” Corley said.
Both Corley and Hutchinson said they’re holding on to the hope their voices will mean something in the long run.
“Once we lose hope, then it's just lying under the covers waiting for whatever to happen and I refuse to do that. Whatever comes next, I'm going to keep fighting for what's right,” Hutchinson said.
Corley encouraged everyone to contact both their state and federal representatives about Trump's executive orders and to continue voting.
While DEI practices in higher education were the main focus for several on Wednesday, Sen. Cirino said it’s embedded in secondary education as well.
“There is no place where it should exist. I'm in lockstep with the president on this. He said he was going to do these things, and now he's acting with breakneck speed to actually fulfill those promises. That has to engender a certain amount of respect,” Sen. Cirino said.
Sen. Cirino introduced Senate Bill 1 in this legislative session. It would prohibit Ohio universities and institutions from having DEI training courses, DEI departments/offices, DEI in job descriptions, and DEI-based scholarships.
SB1 is currently being reviewed by a Senate Committee.
