Judge strikes down Trump administration guidance against diversity
programs at schools and colleges
[August 15, 2025]
By COLLIN BINKLEY
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday struck down two Trump
administration actions aimed at eliminating diversity, equity and
inclusion programs at the nation’s schools and universities.
In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher in Maryland found
that the Education Department violated the law when it threatened to cut
federal funding from educational institutions that continued with DEI
initiatives.
The guidance has been on hold since April when three federal judges
blocked various portions of the Education Department’s anti-DEI
measures.
The ruling Thursday followed a motion for summary judgment from the
American Federation of Teachers and the American Sociological
Association, which challenged the government’s actions in a February
lawsuit.
The case centers on two Education Department memos ordering schools and
universities to end all “race-based decision-making” or face penalties
up to a total loss of federal funding. It’s part of a campaign to end
practices the Trump administration frames as discrimination against
white and Asian American students.
The new ruling orders the department to scrap the guidance because it
runs afoul of procedural requirements, though Gallagher wrote that she
took no view on whether the policies were “good or bad, prudent or
foolish, fair or unfair.”
Gallagher, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, rejected the
government’s argument that the memos simply served to remind schools
that discrimination is illegal.
“It initiated a sea change in how the Department of Education regulates
educational practices and classroom conduct, causing millions of
educators to reasonably fear that their lawful, and even beneficial,
speech might cause them or their schools to be punished,” Gallagher
wrote.
Democracy Forward, a legal advocacy firm representing the plaintiffs,
called it an important victory over the administration's attack on DEI.
“Threatening teachers and sowing chaos in schools throughout America is
part of the administration’s war on education, and today the people
won,” said Skye Perryman, the group's president and CEO.
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A statement from the Education Department on Thursday said it was
disappointed in the ruling but that “judicial action enjoining or
setting aside this guidance has not stopped our ability to enforce
Title VI protections for students at an unprecedented level.”
The conflict started with a Feb. 14 memo declaring that any
consideration of race in admissions, financial aid, hiring or other
aspects of academic and student life would be considered a violation
of federal civil rights law.
The memo dramatically expanded the government’s interpretation of a
2023 Supreme Court decision barring colleges from considering race
in admissions decisions. The government argued the ruling applied
not only to admissions but across all of education, forbidding
“race-based preferences” of any kind.
“Educational institutions have toxically indoctrinated students with
the false premise that the United States is built upon ‘systemic and
structural racism’ and advanced discriminatory policies and
practices,” wrote Craig Trainor, the acting assistant secretary of
the department’s Office for Civil Rights.
A further memo in April asked state education agencies to certify
they were not using “illegal DEI practices.” Violators risked losing
federal money and being prosecuted under the False Claims Act, it
said.
In total, the guidance amounted to a full-scale reframing of the
government’s approach to civil rights in education. It took aim at
policies that were created to address longstanding racial
disparities, saying those practices were their own form of
discrimination.
The memos drew a wave of backlash from states and education groups
that called it illegal government censorship.
In its lawsuit, the American Federation of Teachers said the
government was imposing “unclear and highly subjective” limits on
schools across the country. It said teachers and professors had to
“choose between chilling their constitutionally protected speech and
association or risk losing federal funds and being subject to
prosecution.”
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