by Kyla Hurns
I’ll never forget the day I stepped onto Ohio State’s campus for the first time, a college freshman in the middle of the pandemic moving out of state and starting classes on Zoom. While I never thought Ohio State was where I would end up, the main reason for my attendance can be attributed to the Morrill Scholarship Program.
The Morrill Scholarship is a merit-based scholarship that recognizes academically talented high school seniors who will contribute to campus diversity and actively engage as advocates and champions of diversity, inclusion, social justice, and academic excellence. The scholarship, housed in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, has allowed students from all over the country to make Ohio State home. From acceptance into the scholarship program to walking across the stage last May, I have never been prouder to be a Buckeye — until recently.
As a graduate of The Ohio State University and a proud recipient of the Morrill Scholarship, I was sold on the promise that this institution valued diversity, equity, and inclusion. These values, listed proudly on their website, had been proven to be a part of the university’s fabric, an essential component of making Ohio State the university it is today.
And now, that fabric is being torn apart.
Ohio State University, my alma mater, has decided to shut down offices that were crucial to my success and achievement, the Center for Belonging and Inclusion and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. The gutting of DEI work, stripping away resources, the initiatives, and the lifeblood of what makes students on campus has ruined the very school that I was once proud to attend. Now, we are left with nothing but a hollow shell of what was once a commitment to change.
Following Through on Promises
Another value that Ohio State proudly touts is integrity. Integrity requires being honest, but how can you be committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and then erase the programs that support those very same ideals? Integrity means following through on your promises — and when Ohio State introduced the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Center for Belonging and Social Change, it was a promise that students would have space at the table.
This move to eliminate DEI work is a direct contradiction of that promise. It’s a betrayal, and it’s a slap in the face of the generations of past, current, and future students who have fought to make this campus a safe place for all students.
This is a direct attack on Black students and every student who belongs to an underrepresented group. It is a calculated effort to erase our identities, to deny us the space to breathe, to exist, to achieve, and to persist in higher education. Ohio State’s decision to strip away DEI work is the latest chapter in a long history of attempts to erase Black students from educational spaces and provide the institutional support crucial to their success, in a system that wasn’t designed for their presence, much less acceptance or achievement.
We will see fewer Black students attending college and graduating from college.
The long-term implications of ending DEI at Ohio State will be devastating. ODI Early Arrival Programs, Latine Student Success, Bell National Resource Center, and Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation are the places where students will be affected most. The “fiduciary” responsibility of our university means nothing when students are the ones who will deal with the pain, confusion, and consequences of these decisions.
We will see fewer Black students attending college and graduating from college, fewer Black voices in the curriculum, fewer Black faces in faculty positions, and fewer Black students feeling like they belong. The dismantling of DEI sends a message to students that their contributions, work, and presence are insignificant. This isn’t just about the effect on current students but also on the future. This is about generations of students who will come after me, who will arrive with hope in their hearts and dreams, only to find that their university has turned their back.
The Department of Education, in conjunction with the Trump administration and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has taken steps to promote anti-DEI campaigns across the country, threatening to withhold the federal funds of educational institutions and states are responding to these threats by quickly removing programs that support positive campus racial climates and advance completion rates for all students.
The recent introduction of a tip line by the department for individuals to report on “divisive” DEI activity on campuses across the country, has only added fuel to the fire. A tip line to report the work intended to support underrepresented students, to report on conversations necessary to create change, to report on the crucial research being done, and to report on students who advocate for diversity, equity, and justice. This is not just a system of surveillance; it’s a tool of control and fear. This tip line does not protect students but quash any and all efforts to make education a more inclusive and accessible experience.
And let’s be clear, this isn’t just happening at Ohio State. It is a coordinated effort started by the federal government to roll back DEI work across the country. It’s a calculated attempt to undermine any and all efforts to make educational institutions more accessible, accountable, and inclusive to students.
DEI Is About Equity
DEI isn’t an optional program; it is the foundation of ensuring that every student has an equal chance at success. It’s about equity. It is about making sure that the academic spaces where we learn, grow, and challenge each other reflect the diversity of the world around us. It is not just about our existence in these places, but our ability to thrive.
What Ohio State and higher education institutions are doing isn’t just an erasure of DEI work; it is a direct contradiction of the values that they and the United States of America hold dear. It is an abandonment of the idea that these institutions are a place for all students regardless of race, background, sexuality, religion, or identity.
To students, advocates, elected officials, policymakers, and anyone who has a voice, it is time to stand up and fight back. The fight for diversity, equity, and inclusion doesn’t end with their attempts to take it away. This is the beginning of a fight for our future. We must show up for every Black student, and every marginalized student, and demand that our institutions fight for DEI on campus and ensure that students have a space to be heard.
I am proud to be a Buckeye and proud of the values that were taught to me once I stepped foot on campus. Those values weren’t just words on a brochure but a representation of what it means to be a Buckeye. It is because of those values that I will continue to fight to restore Ohio State to the diverse, safe, and inclusive place that it is meant to be.
Kyla Hurns is an education policy analyst at EdTrust.
Source: Seattle Medium
