At a campus town hall on Thursday, March 13, Interim President and CEO Jerry Tarrer tried to reassure students, faculty and staff that President Trump’s attacks on DEI and higher education would not impact the college.

“DEI is in our blood,” he told the room of about 100 people who were seated around tables on the 5th floor of the Student Center.

Last month the Trump Administration threatened to cut funding to schools that continued race-conscious student programming.

 Tarrer said he is “fairly confident” that the college will not lose its federal funding for work study and Pell grants. Half of Columbia’s students are Pell Grant recipients.

Tarrer attended the town hall along with Senior Associate Provost Nathan Bakkum, Senior Vice President and Provost Marcella David, Rosita Sands, special advisor for diversity, equity and inclusion and Charee Mosby-Holloway, director of student diversity and inclusion.

The administrators did not open the floor for students who attended the forum.

Senior photography major Mario Jimenez, president of the Latino Alliance, said he appreciated the reassurance that the panel provided about DEI programs remaining at the college but was disappointed that he did not have the chance to raise specific concerns to administration as the email invite implied. 

“What’s the point of calling a town hall if you’re not going to let people speak?” he asked. “That was a sign of disrespect to the students, because without the students, you don’t have a college.”

Columbia’s student body is half BIPOC, and nearly 40% of students identify as LGBTQ+. Additionally, more than half are first-generation and 5% are international students. 

“We are a very diverse community,” said Greg Foster-Rice, associate provost for student retention initiatives. “Knowing that is very important.”

Tarrer said that the forum was a response to the “dear colleague” letter that the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights sent on Feb. 14 giving schools two weeks to stop using “race preferences and stereotypes” as a factor in their admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, sanctions and discipline.

The deadline was Feb. 28. 

David noted the difference between the idea of DEI and what it means to be “doing DEI.”

“What has brought us together in this opportunity that we have now is that I think DEI is being understood by people within the federal government in a way that I think is different from how we understand it in higher education,” David said.

Institutions that do not comply and end their DEI programs could risk losing federal funding, including for offices like TRIO on Columbia’s campus, which is designed to help students from low socioeconomic backgrounds or who are disabled.

Mosby-Holloway said that though TRIO is in a current grant cycle, meaning its current funds were passed by congress last year, the program could “potentially be impacted by current legislation.”

Additionally, Mosby-Holloway said that while Services for Students with Disabilities is federally funded, it follows the statutes laid out in the Americans with Disabilities Act. She said that SSD is still active and providing services to students.

“There are those that would say that by the nature of providing the work that we provide that we are being segregationists,” Mosby-Holloway said. “I absolutely, fundamentally believe that to not be true.”

Columbia currently requires six credits of DEI courses as part of its core. The courses are required for graduation. 

Sands presented a list of potential new names for the DEI course requirement, which is a minimum of two courses.

The potential names included “Transformed,” “Diversity and Inclusion Transformed,” “Inclusive Perspectives” and “Columbia College Diversity Inclusion”

In a FAQ published on March 1, the Department of Education sought to answer questions related to its earlier order. It said the term DEI was not necessarily the issue.

“Many schools have advanced discriminatory policies and practices under the banner of ‘DEI’  initiatives,” according to the FAQ. “Other schools have sought to veil discriminatory policies with terms like ‘social-emotional learning’ or ‘culturally responsive’ teaching.

The FAQ also noted that events like Black History Month are allowed as long as all students are invited to participate, regardless of race. 

Angel Quintana, a junior creative writing major, said that his biggest concern when it comes to Columbia’s DEI efforts is that possible funding cuts from the Trump administration will take away opportunities that students may not otherwise have. 

“Latino Alliance or other student organizations might be affected where they can’t host such a large safe space for students to make sure they’re welcome,” he said. 

Quintana said that despite these threats from the federal government, he hopes to see the college put their foot down and stay committed to fulfilling these promises.

“As a Black woman, my biggest concern was my scholarships,” said Raniya Waller, a junior animation major. “I don’t necessarily come from a very financially wealthy family, so I was very afraid of my scholarships being taken since that is the way I am able to go to school here.”

Waller said that the panel answered all her questions but is still worried about what’s next after this.

“I don’t know what Trump is up to,” she said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried targeting most of everything” in the Department of Education.

More than 1,300 federal employees with the department lost their jobs just this week. Another 600 already resigned, retired or chose to leave. That means just half of the existing employees remain.  

Waller said she hopes that the college can still progress and become more knowledgeable on certain things in order to figure out how to go through the next four years. 

First-year interior architecture major Roxy Rivas attended the town hall to better understand what DEI meant and what efforts Columbia is making to uphold it.

Rivas was glad that the college had a plan, not just a statement of “We’re doing something, trust us.”

Rivas added that all of her questions and worries were answered and was assured that the school is doing something about Trump’s recent threats to the DEI policies on college campuses.

“They’re not coming after me, fortunately, but I have a lot of friends that I would want to help and also just explain to people who can’t be here,” Rivas said. 

Copy edited by Patience Hurston