The U.S. Department of Education will investigate NYU for alleged civil rights violations, citing the university’s partnership with a nonprofit aiming to diversify Ph.D. programs at business schools. The department did not disclose when the investigations will take place or what they will entail.
NYU was among 52 universities targeted in the Trump administration’s most recent attack on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on college campuses. Each of the schools listed are under fire for their collaboration with The PhD Project — a higher education nonprofit that offers networking and resources for Black, Hispanic and Indigenous students pursuing doctorates in business in an effort to amplify racial diversity among U.S. business school professors.
The PhD Project works with universities, including NYU, by promoting open job positions, holding multischool conferences and maintaining a database of members and resources. In a press release announcing the investigation, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said the department is cracking down on “illegal discrimination” — a continuation of federal efforts to retaliate against DEI programs by claiming they violate the Civil Rights Act.
“Today’s announcement expands our efforts to ensure universities are not discriminating against their students based on race and race stereotypes,” McMahon said. “Students must be assessed according to merit and accomplishment, not prejudged by the color of their skin. We will not yield on this commitment.”
Since the investigations were announced, The PhD Project said in a statement that its initiative is now open to all racial demographics, and its site removed all information specifying that Black, Hispanic and Indigenous students and faculty comprise its network. The website also no longer lists which universities it partners with, but its 2023 report still details the organization’s DEI-centric goals and names NYU as a collaborator.
McMahon’s memo listed around 30 public universities, alongside private colleges including Duke University, Cornell University and Carnegie Mellon University. Unlike several excluded schools such as Northwestern University, the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University, NYU has yet to change its website or policies related to DEI amid federal threats.
This investigation is the latest in the Trump administration’s crackdown on higher education, which has primarily focused on eliminating DEI practices and bolstering efforts to combat antisemitism amid a rise in pro-Palestinian protests on campus. While NYU was not one of 60 schools slated for investigation into antisemitic incidents on campus by the Education Department last week, it was on the Department of Justice’s list of 10 universities to be investigated by the Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism.
Members of the antisemitism task force will speak with “university leadership, impacted students and staff, local law enforcement and community members,” and assess whether “remedial action is warranted,” according to its initial press release. Investigations have not commenced at NYU, but other schools have begun to see withdrawals of federal funding for noncompliance with U.S. President Donald Trump’s orders.
Columbia University — the first victim of the task force’s crackdown — lost $400 million in federal funding, and at least three of its students and alum who participated in pro-Palestinian protests have been targeted by immigration agencies. The Trump administration also slashed $800 million from Johns Hopkins University, which fired more than 2,000 staff members as a result. The task force for antisemitism has also launched investigations into the University of California system.
On Friday, an appeals court overturned a ban on Trump’s requirements for all federal agencies to repeal “equity-related” grants and make contractors affirm that they don’t enforce DEI. The executive orders had been held up in court by a lawsuit filed by the American Association of University Professors and other NYU-affiliated groups for several weeks, but did not prevent agencies from willingly rescinding funds.
When previously asked about the task force for antisemitism, a university spokesperson told WSN that NYU “looks forward to sharing its very considerable track-record.” The university did not respond to request for comment regarding the most recent bout of investigations or NYU’s employment of The PhD Project.
Contact Dharma Niles at [email protected].
