The more I read on this, the more it feels like they are going to use this dive into the financials of these institutions as a means to exclude them from accreditation… and this conclusion is exacerbated by the next item.
When you boil it down, this executive order is threatening the accreditation of schools based on whether they remove their DEI standards, this threatens the access of students, who are dependent on Federal student loans and Pell Grants, to these colleges and universities if they are not approved institutions as outlined in the beginning of section 1.
In Section 1, paragraph 4, sentence 2 (bolded for emphasis);
“The American Bar Association’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar (Council), which is the sole federally recognized accreditor for Juris Doctor programs, has required law schools to “demonstrate by concrete action a commitment to diversity and inclusion” including by “commit[ting] to having a student body [and faculty] that is diverse with respect to gender, race, and ethnicity.” As the Attorney General has concluded and informed the Council, the discriminatory requirement blatantly violates the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 600 U.S. 181 (2023).”
This statement seemed fishy to me, but I’m not an expert, so I posed a simple internet search “Does the Attorney general have more authority than the supreme court?” The AI generated answer was this:
“Attorney General vs Supreme Court
No, the Attorney General does not have more authority than the Supreme Court. The Attorney General represents the United States in legal matters generally and provides legal advice to the President and heads of executive departments, but the Supreme Court has the ultimate judicial authority in the United States.13
The Attorney General's role is primarily to enforce federal laws and represent the government in legal proceedings, whereas the Supreme Court interprets the Constitution and laws of the United States, making final rulings on legal matters.”
🤦♀️I hate the idea that we have to fact check the presidential executive orders.
This item seems to focus heavily on DEI claiming that it is “unlawful discrimination” even to the point of seemingly contradicting itself in Section 1, paragraph 5, sentence 2
“The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, which is the sole accreditor for both allopathic and osteopathic medical residency and fellowship programs, similarly “expect[s]” institutions to focus on implementing “policies and procedures related to recruitment and retention of individuals underrepresented in medicine,” including “racial and ethnic minority individuals.””
And then immediately states in the following sentence “The standards for training tomorrow’s doctors should focus solely on providing the highest quality care, and certainly not on requiring unlawful discrimination.”
But, realistically, how should doctors be expected to provide the highest quality care if efforts are not made to represent racial and ethnic minority individuals who are underrepresented in medicine?!?
Section 3 part b1, states that the first of the 2 primary missions is privatization…
“(i) increasing the private-sector role, including the role of private foundations, in:
(A) strengthening HBCUs through enhanced institutional planning and development, fiscal stability, and financial management;
(B) upgrading institutional infrastructure, including the use of technology, to ensure the long-term viability of these institutions; and
(C) providing professional development opportunities for HBCU students to help build America’s workforce in technology, healthcare, manufacturing, finance, and other high-growth industries;”
And while it sounds positive in some ways, there is a large part of my mind that says this tastes like segregation. If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it's probably a duck.
Additionally, Section 7 defines “historically black colleges and universities” as institutions listed in 34 C.F.R. 608.2, which subsequently lists a requirement of accreditation as one of the defining items of an institution being eligible for this categorization… wait, didn’t they just alter the accreditation requirements? (see the second executive order in this article)
We’re half way there!!!
To say that I was shocked to see so many executive orders when I pulled up the site this evening, is a WILD understatement. But here we are!
Again, on the surface this sounds like something remarkably good coming out of this “administration” but there are some things that strike me as problematic like Sec 3 part b;
“Federal work force development and education programs, or related spending within these programs, that are ineffective or otherwise fail to achieve their desired outcomes. Each identified program should be accompanied by a proposal to reform the program, redirect its funding, or eliminate it.”
And with what we’ve seen D.O.G.E. do to so many federal agencies already, it would fit the existing theme that there would be more cuts in regard to these programs.
Its also a little concerning that they are planning to “reach and surpass 1 million new active apprentices” for “new industries and occupations, including high-growth and emerging sectors.”
Again with the “discriminatory equity ideology” ?!? And now its being called “Behavior Modification Techniques” ?!?
This item heavily references Title VI and is unnecessarily wordy smacking of double speak, making it sound in some places like it is aligning with the core values of Title VI and clearly undermining it in others. Additionally in Sec3 parts b and c it is outlined that the states will have one set of guidelines on the “application of school discipline” while the Secretary of Defense will be responsible for issuing a “revised school discipline code that appropriately protects and enhances the education of the children of America’s military-service families.”
(c) Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Education and the Attorney General shall initiate coordination with Governors and State Attorneys General regarding the prevention of racial discrimination in the application of school discipline.
(d) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense shall issue a revised school discipline code that appropriately protects and enhances the education of the children of America’s military-service families.
I’m sorry, but every time I encounter the word “meritocracy” my brain immediately replaces it with mediocracy.
Again the surface of this sounds grand, IF society worked this way. But unfortunately we’ve proven time and time again that the more highly qualified candidate is often passed over in favor of the candidate that fits the scope of the person(s) making the selection. Whether that selection be to fill an employment vacancy or a perspective home buyer, we as a society have historically discriminated against people of color, making these protections necessary so that these otherwise overlooked groups are have their merit equally considered.
This sounds like the introduction to a post apocalyptic storyline, something akin to Terminator where we have enabled the vehicle of our own demise. Sorry for the dramatics. But in reality, the use of generative AI is environmentally irresponsible.
