President Donald Trump’s administration dropped its legal appeal of a court ruling blocking its campaign against DEI last week. The administration’s actions against DEI threatened funding for K-12 and higher education universities.

The original ruling was based on a lawsuit brought by the American Federation of Teachers against a Feb. 14 letter from the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. 

The letter argued that any form of racial consideration — including hiring, financial aid, housing and teaching that “stigmatize students who belong to particular racial groups” — is illegal and could lead to loss of federal funding. The Office of Civil Rights used the basis of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the equal protection clause of the Constitution and the Supreme Court’s ruling against affirmative action in 2023 to justify its position.

UC Berkeley School of Law professor Jonathan Glater said before the recent withdrawal of the appeal, many universities had already changed their practices to accommodate the Trump administration’s legal view of DEI, referencing the Chronicle of Higher Education’s DEI tracking efforts. 

“Today’s dismissal confirms what the data shows: government attorneys are having an increasingly difficult time defending the lawlessness of the president and his cabinet,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, a legal advocacy firm representing the American Federation of Teachers, in an email. “When people show up and resist, they win. This is a welcome relief and a meaningful win for public education.” 

Campus faculty have pushed back against the anti-DEI initiative, with Berkeley Law faculty members, including Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, signing a letter affirming the legality and principle of DEI. 

In October, Berkeley Law’s Edley Center on Law & Democracy wrote a white paper on the Trump administration’s interpretation of DEI, rebutting it and describing options available to organizations interacting with the federal government on DEI.

“(The Trump administration) have simply ignored it and had federal agencies issue variously titled guidance documents (memoranda, letters, and FAQs) making broad pronouncements that appear to condemn all putatively DEI activities. None have the force of law,” according to the white paper, written by executive director of the Edley Center, Catherine E. Lhamon, and senior fellow Seth Galanter.

Last March, the UC system banned diversity statements in hiring. In June, the Department of Justice began an investigation into the UC system for their diversity hiring practices, claiming the “UC 2030 Capacity Plan” directs campuses to meet “race- and sex-based employment quotas.”

“The Department has full authority under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to target impermissible DEI initiatives that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin. Title VI has always prohibited schools from racial preferencing and stereotyping, and it continues to do so with or without the February 14th Dear Colleague Letter,” said Julie Hartman, Department of Education press secretary for legal affairs, in an email.