In a memo Friday, the Education Department gave an ultimatum to stop using “racial preferences” as a factor in admissions, financial aid, hiring or other areas. Schools are being given 14 days to end any practice that treats students or workers differently because of their race.

The sweeping demand could upend education in myriad ways. The memo targets college admissions offices, ordering an end to personal essays or writing prompts that can be used to predict an applicant’s race. It forbids dorms or graduation events for students of certain races. Efforts to recruit teachers from underrepresented groups could be seen as discrimination.

It’s meant to correct what the memo described as rampant discrimination in education, often against white and Asian students.

  • Hobbes_Dent@lemmy.world
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    Efforts to recruit teachers from underrepresented groups could be seen as discrimination.

    I’m guessing if they’re white it’s not.

      • AWistfulNihilist@lemmy.world
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        The joke will be on white people, they are part of the I in DEI in colleges.

        In 5 years admissions will be 80% Asian women if you go by merit alone.

    • IninewCrow@lemmy.ca
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      Exactly … why follow orders from the government if they are not going to support you if you disobey or obey

      Let the government spend their money on fighting you because they’re going to fight you if you are going to do anything or nothing anyway.

      • samus12345@lemm.ee
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        “Since it is logical to conclude that you will kill us in any event, I choose not to cooperate.”

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    I’ve been told by admin at a few different institutions that DEI helps bring more white students into the institution.

    They could put limits on international students (which also means limiting money coming into the school and into the country), but going purely based on merit means that Asian students would be pushing out white Americans.

    • Kr4u7@lemmynsfw.com
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      Which is what they want. Immigrants always have the looming threat of getting deported over their head. Which means they are more willing to do illegal shit for their employer, while also being heaps cheaper.

    • cannibalkitteh@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      The Department of Education is under the executive branch and holds control over policy and guidance. As a permanent change, it takes about 90 days to go through the official “We want to change eligibility policy” process, but until then, a presidential memo can serve as a directive to the department.

        • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
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          Yeah haven’t Republicans used this exact argument to defang departments like the FCC and EPA, stating that they don’t have the authority to enforce any rules and can only make recommendations?

          • snooggums@lemmy.world
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            Yes, Republicans love to be hypocritical about how the government works. Can’t consider Obama’s SC nomination because it is too close to the election, but rush through their own even closer to the election. Agencies have no power unless they are what the Republicans want. Censorship is wrong, except for theirs. States choice is the most important thing, except for the things they want to force on the states. Diversity, equity, and inclusion that exists only to make people welcome to participate is somehow racist, unfair, and exclusionary.

            It is Bizzaro world logic.

    • blackbelt352@lemmy.world
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      https://youtu.be/n1KgxqEQn0A

      Thus might highlight the… flaws… of our current system of legislating, executing and adjudicating.

      Congress passes legislation saying here’s what we intend to do without any specifics, executive branch figures out the specifics of how to execute on it, Judiciary might step in if the law itself is no bueno or if the president is operating outside the intended bounds of legislation or outside the constitution.

      • HellsBelle@sh.itjust.worksOP
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        Honestly, after America declared independence from Britain it seems they wanted to move so completely away from the Westminster model that they made their Republic model extraordinarily complicated.

  • dan@upvote.au
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    Schools are being given 14 days to end any practice that treats students or workers differently because of their race.

    So… They’ve solved racism?

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    So only the DEI schools will suffer if the entire DOE is defunded? Right. Why bother making ‘corrections’ for this if the threat is already there for everyone to lose funding anyway?

  • FlowVoid@lemmy.world
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    The SCOTUS already held that schools cannot consider race in their admissions. But schools can still use geography, so they often give preference to applicants from disadvantaged neighborhoods. I don’t think Trump’s latest EO is going to change that.