Programs at Michigan universities that aim to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds gain access to higher education are at risk under new rules from the U.S. Department of Justice that have rankled university administrators.
In a July 29 memo, Attorney General Pam Bondi said that although the federal government in the past has “turned a blind eye toward, or even encouraged, various discriminatory practices,” this would no longer be tolerated for recipients of federal funds, including the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and other public schools in the state.
The guidelines from President Donald Trump’s administration seek to end practices that it considers discrimination or segregation. For instance, it prohibits universities from geographic targeting if it is or could be perceived to be based on the race or sex of students in that area, such as Detroit, or requiring diversity training if it stereotypes a person.
Michigan State Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake Township, called the memo a “breath of fresh air.”
“(The memo) is one of the best things I’ve seen in my entire life since I’ve learned about the horrific racial discrimination happening on our campuses,” he said.
The DOJ memo also claims that any perception of segregation, like a “BIPOC study lounge,” would violate the law, even if it was open to all students. BIPOC is an acronym for Black, Indigenous and People of Color.
The guidance doesn’t change federal law; instead, it shows what the federal government’s enforcement priorities are, said Armand Alacbay, chief of staff and senior vice president of strategy for the nonpartisan American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a Washington, D.C.-based higher education advocacy group. The memo also provides guidelines for those who want to challenge university practices they believe could be discriminatory or promote segregation.
“This is the clearest articulation I’ve seen yet of the administration’s legal approach to DEI, to race-conscious programs, however you want to describe them,” Alacbay said. “I think it’s a good roadmap for how (university and college) boards should approach these issues as a business decision.”
But the memo raised concerns among other higher education advocates, who say the guidelines attached to federal funding for public universities directly target students of color and other students who have been historically disadvantaged in accessing higher education.
Cyekia Lee, executive director of the Detroit College Access Network, said the Trump administration’s directive is already impacting Detroit students. She’s expecting fewer events this fall where colleges and universities meet with prospective students from Detroit.
“As we look at September, October, in admissions season, we are already preparing to see less folks coming out to recruit students from Detroit,” she said. “And so we’re thinking about the pathway of how we connect students from Detroit to those admissions officers, because if (recruiters) can’t go to a Black student event, or another protected class, and you could in the past, there’s just no way to reach those students.”
Ryan Fewins-Bliss, director of the Michigan College Access Network, said he worries that institutions “overcorrecting” and rolling back programs meant to serve specific groups of students will result in fewer students, especially students of color, attending college.
“Historically, higher education was designed for the upper echelons of society,” he said. “And at that time, it was White men … Institutions were built on that premise, and we know that once you put those ingredients into a system, it’s really hard to get them out … So, these programs that colleges have created have been created to help fix those historical problems that were created.”
“(Without this) we’re going to have fewer folks in college who are Black and Brown,” he said. “And this means we have fewer people who are earning a living wage and entering the workforce who are Black and Brown.”
Delta College President Mike Gavin, who also heads a coalition of community colleges called Education for All that helps higher education institutions navigate the “complex challenges of today’s polarized landscape,” said he felt the memo wasn’t reflecting reality and could be used to scare those who didn’t know what was actually going on at universities and colleges.
“It basically claims, for instance, that certain groups, like certain races, get unlawful preferential treatment in things like hiring,” he said. “That’s never been the case … There’s a lot of claims that are made, I think, in order to have the public believe things are happening that are not happening.”
The memo targets particular practices that are unlawful, like giving an unfair advantage to people in a certain protected class, specifically race and sex. However, the memo goes further, stating that proxies that could be perceived as giving one protected class an advantage could also be considered a breach of the law.
“Before implementing facially neutral criteria, rigorously evaluate and document whether they are proxies for race, sex, or other protected characteristics,” the memo said. “For instance, a program targeting ‘low-income students’ must be applied uniformly without targeting areas or populations to achieve racial or sex-based outcomes.”
Runestad said he was in favor of “proxies” being re-examined so colleges and universities could not use them to unfairly advantage one group over another.
“These proxies like by where you live and cultural experiences have filled in for racial discrimination,” he said.
The memo also says that on-campus spaces, like study lounges, reserved for students of a protected class are unlawful, even if the space was open to all.
“A college receiving federal funds designates a ‘BIPOC-only study lounge,’ facially discouraging access by students of other races,” the memo said, citing an example of an unlawful practice. “Even if access is technically open to all, the identity-based focus creates a perception of segregation and may foster a hostile environment.”
The memo also asks that if an institution receiving federal funding wanted to use criteria in hiring, promotions, or selecting contracts that might correlate with protected characteristics, it must document “clear, legitimate rationales” that aren’t related to protected characteristics.
“If you have a program that is creating a ‘perception’ of segregation, is that segregation?” Alacbay said. “Even if it’s technically open to all, I mean, that’s a good legal question, quite frankly. If something looks and sounds like segregation, is it really just segregation? Those are the questions I think this memo is trying to get at.”
Runestad said he hopes legal challenges are brought to ask these questions.
“Yes, I would like to see challenges against some of the practices,” he said. “So then, a precedent would be set and the guidance could be codified into law.”
Even before colleges and universities implemented “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” practices, many offered multicultural centers, clubs for students of specific affinity groups or tried to reach disadvantaged students through targeted recruiting or scholarships.
And many of the practices implemented benefited all students, rather than just a certain group, Gavin said.
At Delta College’s campus southwest of Bay City, targeted programs and services have increased enrollment and completion rates of Black and Hispanic students by about 20%, Gavin said.
But it wasn’t just those groups who saw improvement when the college focused efforts on them. College-wide completion rates also rose about 10%, Gavin said.
“We’ve increased food assistance, transportation, mental health … and that’s for everybody,” he said. “It happens to benefit some of the people who don’t have these things, which more often is the Pell Grant students, the African American students, the Hispanic students … but it really improves the experience for everyone.”
Most colleges and universities in Michigan have a center or lounge dedicated to celebrating their multicultural students. MSU opened its Multicultural Center this year after decades of students, staff and community members calling for it. The space hosts several rooms specifically for students of certain campus groups, but the space and affinity student organization events are open to all.
UM’s William Trotter Multicultural Center and campus affinity groups operate similarly. An event for QTBIPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, indigenous, People of Color) is advertised on the center’s website, but it states it is open to all.
Despite these efforts, fewer students of color still enroll in and graduate from college than White students, Fewins-Bliss said. Communities of color are still, on average, poorer.
And although as long as there’s “legitimate rationale” for programs and practices that the guidance mentions, Fewins-Bliss said, it’s not certain higher education leaders would put the time and effort into this.
Fewins-Bliss said it wouldn’t surprise him if university leaders decided to roll back the legal programs, services and spaces they’ve had for years.
“If I’m a college president, do I roll the dice and say, ‘Here’s the 50 pages of rationale we’ve come up with for all of the things?’ Or, is it safer to just get rid of it?”
But the Trump administration is not targeting all programs that help disadvantaged students get into and succeed in college, such as initiatives that boost students who are the first in their families to attend college.
For students like Brandon Owens, who was able to learn about and gain skills for college through Oakland University’s Project Upward Bound College Prep Academy, programs like these are life-changing.
The program — part of a federal initiative to expand higher education for disadvantaged students like lower-income students, first-generation students, and students with disabilities — allowed him to experience college and convinced him it was a possibility.
“College was always something that was in the back of my mind,” the 20-year-old journalism student said. “I never thought it would be realistic for me at all … (Oakland University) gave me the opportunity to go to college and do what I want to do.”
That specific program and others OU participates in, like their first-generation orientation and college kickoff program that took place last week, likely won’t be targeted under the Trump administration’s crackdown because of the racial diversity of students it covers.
But college access advocates warn that other programs, like those taking place in majority-minority cities like Detroit, might get scrutinized.
All of the state’s colleges and universities have some presence in Detroit, Lee said, whether that be specific scholarships or recruiting efforts that take place within the city or on campuses for Detroit students.
But nearly 80% of students at Detroit Public Schools Community District are Black, enrollment data available on MISchoolData shows. By default, colleges and universities that want Detroit students to attend their schools are likely to increase their number of students of color.
Alacbay said schools can still seek out and support students like those in Detroit, as long as it is clear they are not favoring a group of students based on their race.
“You’d have to lean heavily into the socioeconomic part of it, right?” he said. “But schools can still use the neutral factors as long as they’re not used with the intent of meeting racial ends.”
But the reality is, Lee said, Black students are still often the only ones in the room in certain majors and academic programs. This is an isolating experience for students who might be away from home for the first time and are still trying to figure out who they are.
“These spaces, these lounges, are so important because that is a safe space, that is a brave space to go into and say, ‘Hey, here’s what’s going on,’ or ‘Here’s what I’m struggling with,’ and you can connect with like-minded folks … If I have a group of people on this campus that look like me, that understand me, know that the local store might not have the products I need for my hair or my skin or whatever, I can lift that up there, we can discuss it …,” said Lee, head of the the Detroit College Access Network.
“People need to have an outlet and a group of support,” Lee added.
This piece was originally published by The Detroit News on August 17, 2025.
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