Diversity and inclusion programs brought Raul Fernandez from a segregated, predominantly Latino community in the Bronx to Boston University.
Now a senior lecturer at Wheelock College of Education and Development, Fernandez teaches classes about improving diversity programs in education. But his work at BU and the future of DEI programs across the country is uncertain.
The Office of Community & Inclusion, which includes the office of Diversity & Inclusion, will move under the Office of the President, according to an email sent by BU Provost and Chief Academic Officer Gloria Waters to faculty and staff Thursday afternoon.
“Connecting this work more concretely to the strategic priorities in the Office of the President will allow us to best support our students, faculty, and staff moving forward,” Waters wrote.
As part of this transition, Victoria Sahani, associate provost for Community & Inclusion, will step down from her position and return to the School of Law faculty, effective July 1.
Fernandez said the nature of the changes was not adequately explained in the email and he would have preferred “more in-depth communication” about changes to Community & Inclusion.
Waters wrote that she “[hoped] this broader visibility into our structure helps clarify how we are working to advance our shared mission.”
“It doesn’t at all clarify that,” Fernandez said in direct response.
Fernandez added he has a lot of questions about this change and hopes for a change in the decision-making process.
“My hope is that … the president’s office, which now is going to be overseeing community inclusion, actually brings in faculty and staff and students to help shape the future work of that division and the offices within it,” Fernandez said.
The restructuring of the D&I office comes as the Trump administration takes aim at DEI programs at universities across the country.
Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights in the U.S. Department of Education, published a “Dear Colleague” letter Feb. 14 addressed to educational institutions receiving federal funding across the country.
The letter accused these institutions of promoting “racial discrimination,” particularly against white and Asian students “under the banner of ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion.’”
“Institutions that fail to comply with federal civil rights law may, consistent with applicable law, face potential loss of federal funding,” he wrote. He provided educational institutions 14 days to answer the written demands.
“It’s preposterous,” said Fernandez.
He said the letter did not define what DEI is and “just says you have to get rid of it.”
Fernandez said Waters told faculty in a March 5 meeting nothing had been changed regarding D&I programs even though he had heard programs were changed, cut or eliminated.
A BU employee who is familiar with the matter, who did not wish to be identified for fear of retribution, said multiple D&I programs had been “indefinitely paused with no explanation” in the days following the “Dear Colleague” letter. Those decisions were advised by the Office of General Counsel, BU’s in-house legal office.
“[BU D&I’s] work is being taken away from us and we don’t really know why and we don’t really know what’s next.” they said. “It’s demoralizing, to say the least.”
BU’s Emerging Scholars program is sponsored by the University’s D&I office and hosts late-stage doctoral candidates from across the country to participate in “networking and professional development opportunities, research presentations, panel discussions, and mentorship” at the University, according to its website.
Emerging Scholar and West Virginia State University doctoral candidate Briana Edwards was invited to BU Feb. 21 to present her research on ageism in the workplace. She called the event, which Fernandez helped organize, “one of the most enlightening experiences” in her academic journey.
In the days leading up to the event, Fernandez said he received communications from the Office of D&I to remove references to the office from flyers advertising the event. Not long after the event, he was told the program was canceled.
“It really is hurtful when DEI is removed from education, because it’s such a large portion of what education is truly about, to learn about different people, different places and different things.” Edwards said.
Using the Wayback Machine, The Daily Free Press found the Emerging Scholars section of the website was significantly changed between December 2024 and now. The current version of the website has removed all mention of the exclusion of racial or ethnic groups from BU, the “goals of the program” list and the “how to apply” section.
Fernandez spoke at the Q&A portion of the March 31 faculty assembly and expressed he wanted BU to admit the actions of the federal government are wrong.
“The silence, not just from BU, but from so many, is deafening,” Fernandez said during the Q&A.
In response, Gilliam said, “There are days when I would love to just yell. But I don’t think at this point that that is the most effective.”
Fernandez said in an interview with the Daily Free Press that after that meeting it was, “the first time in a long time I’ve been just sad.”
Gilliam signed the American Association of Colleges and Universities public statement called “A Call for Constructive Engagement” April 22. It unifies leaders of American colleges, universities and scholarly societies against “unprecedented government overreach and political interference” affecting American higher education.
BU’s AAUP chapter also joined an amicus brief with more than 20 universities last month calling for an end to federal government actions that “subjects the entire system of higher education in the United States to a shock that threatens serious and lasting damage,” according to the brief.
“BU needs to establish a mutual academic defense compact. It needs to do so as soon as it can with other universities,” said Joseph Harris, co-president of BU’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors.
The “mutual defense compact” is a statement of solidarity amongst universities where participating universities vow to fund a shared defense reserve for any university facing legal or political threats.
Brian Cleary, a professor of computing and data sciences, biomedical engineering and biology and member of the BU AAUP, is helping lead the effort to garner support from BU’s Faculty Council.
Cleary said they want to form a “collective defense to safeguard our sort of shared values around academic freedom, equality, democratic governance” with other universities.
“The idea is that individual universities responding on their own have much less power than mounting a collective response,” said Cleary.
While Gerry Leonard, BU professor of law, recognizes University leadership are in a different position than faculty, he said BU must also challenge the lawfulness of executive orders that impact DEI programs and international students on campus.
To Leonard’s knowledge, BU has joined “essentially zero.”
AAUP has joined lawsuits like those looking to block Trump’s “unlawful and unconstitutional” DEI orders and funding cuts.
While BU is a member of the AAUP, the University has only “submitted a strongly worded supporting statement” filed with an AAUP lawsuit seeking to block the U.S. Department of Energy’s cuts to federal research grants.
“I am not trying to imply that BU should have joined or participated in all of these suits,” Leonard wrote in an April 30 email with a “BU on Trump Lawsuits” document attached. “But I would be curious to know why we have participated in practically none of them.”
Fernandez has been a part of the BU community for the past 30 years as a student and staff member, but he said he doesn’t know if the University is “going to have my back.”
“It’s hard to put on that scarlet and white and be proud of your university when you feel like they are not being honest with you about what they’re doing,” he said.