Purdue 'sunsetting' DEI, will revise programs focused on 'underrepresented' groups
Purdue will shut down its Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, and any 'related activities.'
Minority Engineering Program and Business Opportunity Program will be updated into the Boilermaker Opportunity Program Plus.
As universities begin to revise their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs to prevent the possibility of losing federal funding, Purdue University announced that it will be sunsetting its own DEI programs effective immediately.
In a statement released on Friday by Purdue’s Provost Patrick Wolfe, this decision came about in order to comply with the Trump administration’s policies as well as Indiana regulations, claiming that it is a “necessary part” of the university’s future.
Among the changes, the university will shut down its Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, and any “related activities.” Purdue will give those staff the chance “to interview for current vacancies in other areas,” according to the statement.
Purdue’s Minority Engineering Program (MEP) and Business Opportunity Program (BOP) will be updated “into the Boilermaker Opportunity Program Plus (BOP+) within the Office of the Vice Provost.”
Wolfe writes that this will “serve all academic programs” and “best support all current and future students.”
The university’s MEP program serves as a way “to improve diversity and inclusion in the College of Engineering” and focuses on drawing in “underrepresented minority students,” specifically African American, Hispanic American, and Native American students.
Purdue’s BOP program primarily “recruits, enrolls, educates, and provides support” for undergraduate and graduate minority students who are interested in pursuing careers within the field of management.
The university’s cultural center will remain as an “open resource” for Purdue’s staff, faculty and students, and will remain a member of the Office of the Vice Provost for Student Life.
Wolfe finished the statement, writing, “As we refocus our efforts on the success of all students in keeping with our land-grant mission and values, our team will be with you every step of the way through these updates.”
In April, the Trump administration issued an executive order to “reform” the “dysfunctional accreditation system” in colleges and universities, pledging to end the conditioning of federal aid on the adoption of “unlawful” DEI systems.
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Back in May, the University of Nebraska Board of Regents voted to remove DEI and affirmative action language from its university policies to comply with the Trump administration’s guidelines.
Campus Reform recently reported that employees of Wichita State University must remove “gender identifying pronouns” from their school emails to comply with state law.
Campus Reform has reached out to Purdue and Wolfe’s office for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.