President Donald Trump issued an executive order Jan. 21 attacking diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, and related programs across the country, including at “institutions of higher education with endowments over 1 billion dollars” — a category Northeastern falls into with an endowment of $1.85 billion, as of June 30, 2024. 

Not long after this executive order, Northeastern began altering — or more specifically, taking down — DEI programs and website pages. What used to be  the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, or ODEI, is now simply the “Office of Belonging.”Moreover, a new “Belonging at Northeastern” replaced the ODEI page, And as of Jan. 29, most of colleges and schools at Northeastern have taken down their individual DEI pages, including the Khoury College of Computer Sciences and the D’Amore-McKim School of Business.

For a university that prides itself on a diverse campus, Northeastern can talk about the meaning of diversity all it wants. But actions are another matter — one with far more impact than just words. Without diversity, equity and inclusion, there’s no way to build this culture of “belonging.” How can students and future applicants — particularly minorities — feel as though they belong when their own school doesn’t seem to make them a priority anymore?

Sure, changing up the websites and DEI programs wasn’t an entirely voluntary option for Northeastern. President Trump’s executive order still has the force of law, and Northeastern would still be possibly subject to federal investigation if it didn’t comply. However, that knowledge does little to lessen how exclusionary these changes feel and what sort of statement this makes to the students of Northeastern. Besides, a federal investigation isn’t guaranteed. It’s only a risk. 

Instead of taking that risk to stand up for their students, Northeastern decided to roll back its DEI programs within less than a week of Trump’s term beginning and showed us what we’re really worth to them: a grand total of not that much. 

How can we know that Northeastern will still carry on these programs and leave it at only a name change? After affirmative action in college admissions was struck down by SCOTUS in June 2023, Northeastern had a 35% drop in Black students enrolled for the Class of 2028. If Northeastern is no longer “obligated” to uphold its DEI programs, will it still put effort, time and money into them? Or will these “precious resources” go elsewhere? The answer feels unclear.

The tagline for what used to be the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was “Northeastern believes in a welcoming and inclusive environment for all.”

Now, those words are nowhere to be found on the Belonging at Northeastern page.

So do those values still hold true? Does Northeastern really still believe in a “welcoming and inclusive environment for all,” or was it all performative? Northeastern uses diversity as a pull to encourage students to apply — but without a committed DEI program, how trustworthy is that rhetoric? 

The new Belonging at Northeastern page is so bare that it’s hard to believe that there’s really as big of a commitment to diversity and inclusion programs as Northeastern claims to have. 

Before the change, the ODEI website included a concise blurb about their “commitment to global inclusive impact,” far more direct and to-the-point than the new Belonging at Northeastern ones. Also included were clear links to affinity groups, learning development, initiatives and resources, as well as a form to subscribe to their newsletter. All of these have been scrubbed from the Belonging at Northeastern page.

Now, as of Jan. 30, the Belonging at Northeastern page features two surface-level paragraphs about “fostering a community of belonging,” a handful of photos showcasing “diversity” that truthfully feel tokenizing and a menu with a mere two options: the “Presidential Council on Belonging” and “Affinity Groups.” 

Northeastern once told students that there was value in their diverse identities and viewpoints. Now, they’re stripping that messaging down. “Belonging” isn’t the same as “diversity and inclusion.” “Belonging” is when someone gets to decide who has the right to be in any space, whereas “inclusion” means all are welcome. For students who are part of these underrepresented communities, these alterations feel like a stab in the gut.

When President Joseph E. Aoun announced the President’s Council on Diversity and Inclusion in 2013, he said, “If anyone in this community feels that they are not full members of the Northeastern family, that is unacceptable.” 

This change has made many students feel they’re no longer a “full member of the Northeastern family.” That is unacceptable.

Unintentional or not, with the removal and altering of these DEI pages, Northeastern has just made several thousands of students feel like they’re not as important as those who don’t benefit from DEI programs. Students of color, LGBTQ+ students, disabled students and Jewish students currently still have affinity groups from Belonging at Northeastern, but how long will that last? How long until Northeastern decides they are tired of putting in these resources? Will they last through the next four years?

There’s no way to know.

Harvard University still has its DEI page up. So do Boston University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University. And these colleges also all have endowments north of  $1 billion.

So, Northeastern, what’s your excuse?

Antaine Anhalt is a first-year communication studies major. He can be reached at [email protected]