1️⃣ The Quiet Rollback: Eliminating DEI Without Saying the Words Across the country, states are quietly pulling funding from Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) offices—especially in public universities. These changes are often framed as “refocusing on core academics,” but in reality, they strip away critical support structures that help students and educators thrive.
💡 Strategy: Pay attention to the language used in these policy shifts. Terms like “curriculum neutrality” or “viewpoint diversity” may signal that equity work is being diluted or dismantled without being directly named.
2️⃣ The Ripple Effect: What Happens When DEI Support Disappears DEI efforts have offered students more than workshops and office hours—they’ve created pathways to belonging. When these supports vanish, students from historically underserved communities lose access to the guidance and affirmation that help them succeed.
💡 Strategy: Ask your school or institution how it’s continuing to support marginalized students without formal DEI infrastructure. Equity must remain a function, even if the form changes.
3️⃣ A Personal Note: Watching It Happen at My Alma Mater As a proud graduate of Ohio University, it’s painful to see my alma mater scale back DEI programming in order to keep state funding. The reality is, not every institution has Harvard-level endowments. Many public colleges are being forced into impossible choices, and often, equity is the first to go.
💡 Strategy: Recognize institutional pressure without excusing harm. Alumni and educators alike can ask tough questions and advocate for solutions that prioritize inclusion and support—especially when public dollars are at stake.
4️⃣ When DEI Disappears, Learning Gets Harder At Literacy Lightbulb, we help educators break down complex language arts concepts so they can meet their students’ needs with precision. But teaching and learning don’t happen in a vacuum. If students don’t feel safe, seen, or supported, even the best strategies fall flat.
💡 Strategy: Pair instructional solutions with systems-level thinking. For example, a classroom struggling with vocabulary acquisition might not only need morphology tools—they may also need culturally relevant texts and safe spaces to engage in dialogue.
5️⃣ Equity by Another Name: Keeping the Work Alive In today’s climate, some schools are reframing equity work with new labels—“belonging,” “student success,” “resilience.” That’s fine, as long as the intent doesn’t disappear with the name.
💡 Strategy: Stay outcome-focused. Whether it’s called DEI or not, the work is still about ensuring every student can access meaningful, rigorous, affirming learning opportunities.
Final Thoughts: Equity Is Not Optional. Removing the acronym doesn’t remove the responsibility. Equity isn’t a trend or a talking point—it’s foundational to effective instruction, student engagement, and institutional success. When we lose sight of that, we risk making school harder for the very students we’re trying to reach.
Reflection Question: How is your institution navigating this shift? What are you doing to keep equity-centered learning alive in your context? Share your thoughts in the comments. 👇
