TIE Webinar Wrap-Up: Affirmative Action and the Future of DEI

Posted on October 14, 2025 in Blog Posts, Webinars

Authors:

Renate ChancellorSean BurnsJerome OffordFatima Mohie-Eldin
Illustration of diverse people in profile under the heading "Affirmative Action and the Future of DEI"

Earlier this year, Toward Inclusive Excellence (TIE) held an important panel discussion on how academic librarians might continue to pursue DEI initiatives, despite current political challenges, with Dr. Renate Chancellor, Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies; Dr. Sean Burns, Associate Professor at the University of Kentucky’s School of Information Science; and Dr. Jerome Offord, Jr., Associate University Librarian (AUL) and Chief Diversity Officer for Harvard Library. Given the recent publication of Yale Law School Professor Justin Driver‘s new book, entitled The Fall of Affirmative Action (2025), now seems an ideal time to revisit TIE‘s webinar.

This topic had been on our minds since the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in the Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard (2023) and SFFA v. UNC (2023) cases effectively ended race-conscious affirmative action policies in college admissions. However, once Executive Orders 14151 and 14173 were issued by the Trump administration in early 2025, both seeking to undercut DEI efforts, we understood that the prospect of advancing diversity in higher education was only becoming more challenging. In the months since, we’ve seen just how drastically these measures have impacted campuses. We understood further how heavily this issue has been weighing on librarians’ minds, prompting us to conduct an anonymous reaction round-up survey at the ACRL 2025 Conference in April (see the results below):

ACRL 2025 Reaction Round-Up

Recent executive orders issued by the Trump administration aim to dismantle and defund DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs and practices. Has this directly impacted your library or campus, and if so, how? (click to reveal responses)
  • As a web services librarian, I’ve been instructed to remove and alter content to “look less like DEI,” even on explicitly DEI websites.
  • We have been required to change collection development policies.
  • We show up. We don’t react or overreact. We are there for our students, full stop.
  • We are doing our best to keep a low profile. We’re safe for now, but it’s only a matter of time before we’re in a lot of danger.
  • We, as a private institution, are too much engaged in ANTICIPATORY COMPLIANCE! I wish we would push back more!
What are some steps that colleagues in the field (perhaps at unaffected institutions) could take to support those being affected? (click to reveal responses)
  • Think about your collections, circulations, and special [collections]. Can you support collection development for other institutions?
  • Enraged/energized to kick some serious butt at advocacy.
  • Pushing forward regardless
  • Not complying in advance! Malicious compliance!

Our hour-long panel discussion addressed all of these points and more, leaving many participants feeling enthused, hopeful, and reenergized, as they expressed themselves in the comments. You can watch (or re-watch!) the webinar in its entirety on YouTube or skip ahead to the live audience Q&A, with links below. You may also access some of the resources shared live during the webinar, below.

We wish to extend our heartfelt thanks to Drs. Chancellor, Burns, and Offord, Jr. for sharing their insights and reflections with our audience on a topic that remains on everyone’s minds. Make sure to subscribe to the TIE newsletter for updates on upcoming webinars, blog posts, and resource lists!

Watch Here

Audience Q&A

Webinar Resources

“Steer Clear of ‘Illegal DEI’ With Leveling—Not Lifting—Programs,” Bloomberg Law, February 10, 2025.

 

“Tracking Higher Ed’s Dismantling of DEI,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 22, 2025.

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Interested in contributing to TIE? 

Email Fatima (fmohie-eldin@ala.org) at Choice with your topic idea.

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Header image is a detail of This is Harlem by Jacob Lawrence. Courtesy of Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. © 2021 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. For more information, click here.

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