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ARTICLE · 28 JANUARY 2025

Presidential Executive Order Targets DEI In Higher Education

McGuireWoods LLP
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The Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity Executive Order (EO) issued on Jan. 22, 2025, takes aim at diversity, equity and inclusion programs at institutions of higher education.

United StatesConsumer Protection
Farnaz F. Thompson
Farnaz F. Thompson
Sarah K. Wake
Sarah K. Wake
Jack L. White
Jack L. White

The Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity Executive Order (EO) issued on Jan. 22, 2025, takes aim at diversity, equity and inclusion programs at institutions of higher education. (McGuireWoods' affirmative action and OFCCP compliance team cover the other provisions of this Executive Order here.) The EO begins with the premise that "institutions of higher education have adopted and actively used dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-called 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' (DEI) or 'diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility' (DEIA) that can violate the civil-rights laws."

Here's what higher education institutions need to know.

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