Welcome back to After the First 100 Days, Inside Higher Ed’s weekly roundup of news from the Hill to the Oval Office. I’m your host, Katherine Knott, IHE’s news editor, who is hanging in there.
It’s Day 193 of the second Trump administration, the end of week 28 and finally August. Woo.
In some ways, this week felt like those frantic early days of the administration. For instance, in a 24-hour span this week, we found out that all grant funding at the National Institutes of Health was frozen and then unfrozen, the Justice Department said DEI was “unlawful discrimination,” and Brown University cut a $50 million deal to restore its federal funding. And I’m probably missing something.
But let’s start with the DOJ directive.
The nine-page memo is similar to the Education Department guidance, sent Feb. 14 but blocked by a federal judge, that banned race-based programs and activities. This document goes further than the ED letter, suggesting that recruitment efforts that focus on majority-minority geographic areas and “BIPOC-only study lounges” would violate the law.
We’ve seen this administration attack all things diversity, equity and inclusion since day one, so in many ways this document isn’t surprising. But it’s more specific and detailed than Trump’s orders, which didn’t define DEI, complicating colleges’ efforts to comply with federal edicts and protect programs that help their students. Plus, as the DOJ gets more involved in higher education oversight, we need to read what they say closely.
Speaking of reading what the DOJ says, your co-host Jessica Blake dug into the letters that the department sent to the University of Virginia before President Jim Ryan stepped down. In a nutshell, the series of seven letters shows how DOJ officials are wielding federal civil rights laws to put pressure on college leaders to make certain changes on campuses—even if the agency lacks the authority to compel such changes.
In Other News: Good news for TRIO and other programs that Trump wanted to kill: A key Senate committee rejected Trump’s plans and is level-funding those programs. That means TRIO would get $1.19 billion in fiscal year 2026—the same amount it received this year. In typical years, college advocates push for more funding, but in this case, flat funding is a win.
On Tap for Next Week:
- The Education Department will hold a public hearing from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 7 to kick off the next round of negotiated rule making. Details about how to tune in and sign up are here.
- UCLA has to respond by Aug. 5 to a notice from the DOJ that accused the university of creating a hostile environment for Jewish students.
That’s it for week 28. And as always, I want to hear what’s on your mind. What do you want to know about what’s happening in D.C.? I’m at katherine.knott@insidehighered.com.
If, or when, news breaks this afternoon or over the weekend, you can find the latest at InsideHigherEd.com. In the meantime, I’ll be packing up my apartment and rooting for the Washington Spirit. Have a good weekend!
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