Multiple colleges and universities in Minnesota are operating offices focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) even as the Trump Administration moves to end DEI.
In January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order which called out institutions of higher learning that “actively use dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-called ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion.'” Further, the executive order said DEI initiatives violate federal civil-rights laws.
The following month, the U.S. Department of Education sent a letter to colleges and universities which warned schools that they risk losing federal funds if they use race as a factor in institutional programming, training, admissions, hiring, and other areas.
In that letter, the department noted that advocates of these “discriminatory practices have attempted to further justify them—particularly during the last four years—under the banner of ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (‘DEI’), smuggling racial stereotypes and explicit race-consciousness into everyday training, programming, and discipline.”
According to a new report from Defending Education, 245 universities across the nation are operating institution-wide offices focused on DEI. A non-profit group committed to ending indoctrination in education, Defending Education highlighted nine Minnesota schools that operate offices pushing DEI-type initiatives.
While some of these offices are not explicitly titled “The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” they use similar terminology and appear to reflect identical values.
At the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, the school’s “Division of Inclusive Excellence” promotes “diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) work through the Division of Inclusive Excellence’s Multicultural Student Services, Native Initiatives, Community Resources and Professional Development Programs.”
The office adds that it is “dedicated to pursuing a just and equitable community.”
Meanwhile, the Office of Equity and Belonging at St. Catherine University in St. Paul says its mission “is to develop a systematic infrastructure that ensures inclusive excellence” and to build “a community where all identities are valued, and diversity is celebrated as a source of strength.”
According to the Defending Education report, other Minnesota schools that operate DEI offices include Macalester College, the University of St. Thomas, the University of Minnesota, and the Minnesota State University System.
In Rochester, the Mayo Clinic’s College of Medicine and Science also maintains an office focused on DEI initiatives despite a recent rebrand. The college’s “Office for Education Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” has now become the “Education Office of Belonging.”
That rebrand appears to be a part of a company-wide change at the Mayo Clinic in which the organization’s top-level “Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity” became the new “Office of Belonging.”
The Education Office of Belonging at Mayo Clinic’s college says it “advances belonging and inclusion” and “promotes the recruitment, retention, and advancement of a diverse community of learners, staff, and faculty.”
Institutions of higher learning are not the only organizations undergoing DEI rebrands.
At the beginning of April, Minnesota’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families sent out an email to staff announcing that the agency’s “Office of Equity and Engagement” will be renamed as the “Office of Systems Change and Public Engagement.”
Submitted: Name changes in Minnesota state enterprise to hide DEI?🧐
At Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families (MN DCYF)
Office of Equity and Engagement ➡️ Office of Systems Change and Public Engagment pic.twitter.com/VeqdEZr49G
— Liz Collin (@lizcollin) April 16, 2025
According to the email, the new name “better captures our efforts towards identifying and addressing the systemic conditions that create barriers to access, gaps in opportunity, unequal outcomes, or ineffective engagement across communities.”
Furthermore, the office said its work “includes examining the structures, systems and patterns of impact that shape how decisions are made, who influences those decision, and how those choices affect the experiences and outcomes of different communities.”
In recent months, the Trump Administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative has worked to end DEI efforts in educational institutions and government agencies. Earlier this year, DOGE cancelled 104 federal DEI contracts and cut off over $100 million in DEI funding at the Education Department.
Additionally, one of the first executive orders President Trump issued this year effectively ended all DEI practices and offices throughout the federal government.
Sarah Prentice
Sarah Prentice has previously written for Campus Reform and worked as an intern at Media Research Center. While continuing to pursue her degree in political science, she worked full-time in communications and media outreach for a pro-woman, pro-life non-profit. Now a fellow at Alpha News during her senior year of college, she hopes to graduate with her political science degree from SUNY Brockport and combine it with her media and communications experience to pursue political journalism. She has a special interest in reporting on stories related to social issues, education, public health, and religious freedom.
