FEB. 14 ISN’T JUST VALENTINE’S DAY for me. It is the celebration of when I became “woke” and started focusing my research on what factors empower racialized minorities’ successes in entrepreneurship. Why Valentine’s Day? It’s not because it’s a labor of love, but it is a direct reaction to the “Dear Colleague Letter” (DCL) distributed by the U.S. Department of Education on Feb. 14, 2025, that threatened the immediate withdrawal of federal funding for any educational institution that failed to eliminate race-based preferences from all aspects of campus life, including admissions, hiring, financial aid, and DEI programs.
When the DCL came out in 2025, many universities capitulated to these threats including Columbia, the University of North Carolina, and my own institution where I am on the faculty of the business school. The Chronicle of Higher Education began tracking “Higher Ed’s Dismantling of DEI” finding changes at 437 campuses across the United States. Other universities, such as Harvard and the California State University system, stood up against the decree by issuing their own letters stating that the ED lacked the authority to redefine Title VI. In response to the DCL, CSU Chancellor Mildred Garcia communicated to campus communities, “It is important to note that the CSU’s programs and services are open to all — we are an inclusive institution, not an exclusive one. That is in our DNA.”
Unlike CSU, the university where I serve as an endowed chair of innovation and entrepreneurship acted on the letter by cutting funding for the PhD Project, which supports Black and Brown Ph.D. candidates. Our DEI department on campus became the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Multi-cultural Education. No more equity. Additionally, some administrators were relieved of their positions, including two Black female deans and two DEI coordinators. The university will say that these restructurings were not related to the DCL; however, as an academic, I would note there is an interesting correlation of events even if there might not be causality.
Not just a ‘DEI hire’
At a personal level, this Valentine-day letter suggested that my career was not based on merit, but upon my race. Was I given my academic position because I am of Mexican descendent? I’ll admit that I obtained my first academic position through a DEI initiative. But “DEI hire” is a misnomer that critics use to imply a sacrifice of excellence. No one is hired as a tenure-track faculty based on their gender or the color of their skin. You must have a Ph.D.; you must have demonstrated strong research capabilities; and you must have shown the ability to teach in an academic setting. So, what does it mean to be a “DEI hire” in academia? It means that the PhD Project used its network to share my resume with business schools looking for new faculty. Akin to an ‘old boys’ network,’ introductions were made, interviews conducted, and the best person for the position was selected. It just happened to be me, a Latina from California.
Just two weeks ago on Jan. 21, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education dropped its appeal of an August 2025 ruling by U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher in Maryland, which struck down the DCL stating it violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the First Amendment. While court rulings have exposed the DCL as legally hollow, we cannot ignore the chilling effect its threats have had on campus life. Instead of waiting for due process, many universities simply folded removing DEI initiatives from their campuses, making reinstatements unlikely in the future. This rapid retreat suggests that diversity and equity are not foundational values, but rather “fair-weather” commitments that are the first to be jettisoned even when the political wind shifts.
Critics use ‘DEI hire’ to imply a sacrifice of excellence. No one is hired as a tenure-track faculty based on their gender or skin color. You must have a Ph.D. and have shown the ability to teach in an academic setting.
Academic institutions that trade their principles for financial convenience shouldn’t hide behind the privileges of a nonprofit status as it no longer serves the public but their own bottom line. American universities must decide whether their educational mission, like CSU’s, is rooted in foundational principles of equity and inclusiveness or if their moral standing is simply blowing in the political wind. Political mandates will change regularly; this does not mean that a university’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion should cave to government pressure.
One year after the Feb. 14 DCL, my research remains focused on the success factors of racialized minority entrepreneurs, revealing agency rooted in culture, family, and community. My research into these entrepreneurs isn’t just about equity; it’s about identifying the untapped merit that structural barriers have historically hidden. These findings expand our understanding of where merit operates and how it manifests. Let’s not run from DEI but instead recognize its merits as something to learn from.
Rosanna Garcia, Ph.D., is a native of Fremont and is a Public Voices Fellow on Technology in the Public Interest with The OpEd Project.