UC Berkeley signs federal agreement, terminates partnership with doctoral DEI program | Campus

UC Berkeley has cut ties with the PhD Project, an organization supporting underrepresented students in acquiring business Ph.D.s, after a federal investigation alleged the partnership violated civil rights law.

The PhD Project provides job opportunities and organizes an annual conference where Black, Latine, American and Canadian Indigenous people interested in pursuing a business Ph.D. can network with universities.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found that the organization’s paid partnerships with 31 colleges violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits federal funds from supporting racially discriminatory programs. UC Berkeley was one of these 31 colleges.

“UC Berkeley complies with all state and federal laws and consequently has not had to change any of its practices under the PhD Project agreement with the U.S. (Education Department),” said campus spokesperson Janet Gilmore in an email statement.

According to the DOE, the agreement reached with UC Berkeley also stipulates that it must review partnerships with other external organizations. Gilmore did not answer questions about what partnerships are facing review, how many UC Berkeley students the PhD Project supported or what campus is doing to make up for the end of this partnership.

These agreements mark the latest action of the DOE’s OCR, which has prioritized prosecuting Title VI violations, especially in instances of alleged discrimination against white and Asian students in DEI programs. The OCR originally laid out their rationale for prosecuting DEI programs in a February 2025 letter.

One month after issuing that letter, the OCR initiated the investigation into campus March 13, 2025 with a letter to UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons. That letter, obtained by The Daily Californian, targeted campus for supporting the PhD Project’s 2025 conference, which was only open to African American, Latine, American and Canadian Indigenous applicants.

The PhD Project opened up eligibility for its programs and removed references to race — as well as references to any specific partnerships — on its website shortly after the investigations began.

“This is the Trump effect in action,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in the DOE’s statement. “Institutions of higher education are agreeing to cut ties with discriminatory organizations, recommitting themselves to abiding by federal law, and restoring equality of opportunity on campuses across the nation.”

Another archived webpage on the PhD Project website lists UC Berkeley as a “Doctoral Granting Institute.”

Doctoral granting institutions partnered with the PhD Project are required to pay a $5,000 annual fee. According to its website, the PhD Project has helped more than 1,500 student members earn their doctoral degree in its 30-year history. It currently has more than 240 students in Ph.D. programs.

“The PhD Project was founded with the goal of providing more role models in the front of business classrooms and this remains our goal today,” said spokesperson for the PhD Project Christie Zielinski in an email statement.