Since the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in “Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard” barred the use of race in admissions, universities nationwide have faced intensifying legal, political and cultural scrutiny over how diversity, equity and inclusion efforts operate across their campuses. At U.Va., that scrutiny evolved into direct federal intervention, culminating in an agreement with the Justice Department requiring quarterly compliance reports through 2028 following seven federal civil rights investigations into the University’s practices.
In the first week of his presidency, President Donald Trump signed two executive orders directing the elimination of race- and sex-based preferences across federally funded institutions. The orders instructed public universities to terminate the use of protected characteristics in decision-making and to reassess DEI-related offices and initiatives.
Less than two months later, the Board of Visitors voted unanimously to dissolve the University’s Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Community Partnerships in accordance with the executive orders. The March 7 resolution directed University leadership to identify and eliminate any policy, program or role inconsistent with federal civil rights law — a decision that would become the foundation for a wider compliance review involving nearly every academic and administrative unit at the University.
Following that resolution, the University began a review of its policies, websites and programming. University Counsel created a guidance document for “all schools, departments and other units” outlining principles that inform the University’s understanding of civil rights law.
The internal guidance emphasized race- and sex- neutrality in all University-sponsored programs, warned against using terms like “equity” or “underrepresented” as proxies for protected characteristics and instructed units to eliminate any eligibility criteria, messaging or decision-making processes that considered such characteristics — directly or indirectly.
But what changes did that guidance actually set in motion? Who and what was affected across the University?
The University publicly released its first compliance report since the agreement Jan. 29, which specified changes in program language and admissions to comply with civil law. The Cavalier Daily conducted an analysis of archived web pages, institutional materials and public records between the timeframe of December 2024 to the date of publication to examine how these changes manifested across individual schools and administrative units at the University.
School of Medicine
At the School of Medicine, archived admissions webpages indicate several removals of diversity-related language between June 2025 and January 2026. Earlier versions of the site described applicants as coming from “broad and diverse backgrounds” and referenced a “holistic approach” to evaluating candidates. Current language retains references to evaluating academic achievement, experience and recommendations, but no longer includes those background descriptors.
Additional passages emphasizing the goal of building “a talented and diverse student body” and evaluating candidates with “the goal of building a diverse class” are no longer present on the admissions page. Archived text also described the admissions committee as a “diverse group” of faculty and students — language that has since been shortened to remove that characterization.
According to the compliance report released Jan. 29, the School of Medicine’s Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategists Education Program was disbanded. An archived website blog from 2024 describes the initiative as a collaborative framework between the School of Medicine and U.Va. Health’s Office of Diversity and Community Engagement designed to align diversity-related efforts across departments.
The archived description states that the program operated through designated faculty known as “JEDI Strategists” who were appointed within each department to monitor outreach activities, communicate scholarship and funding opportunities and help integrate diversity-related considerations into departmental practices. The program included a three-year curriculum covering topics such as inclusive excellence, implicit bias and social determinants of health — factors like income, education and access to resources that influence patient outcomes.
The University’s compliance report later stated that diversity-related training and outreach programs within the Medical Center were discontinued as part of its review process. The University has not publicly detailed the specific timeline or administrative decisions surrounding the removal of the JEDI materials from public-facing platforms.
Public recognition tied to diversity initiatives has also shifted. The School of Medicine and School of Nursing received the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity award from INSIGHT — an organization that recognizes institutions that “demonstrate excellence in fostering campus environments where students, faculty and staff thrive” — for several consecutive years, but neither school appeared among the recipients in 2025.
School of Nursing
The first quarterly compliance report also described revisions at the School of Nursing. According to the report, the Nursing School updated its admissions criteria to remove references to race and discontinued its holistic admissions model, and it revised faculty promotion and tenure criteria to eliminate evaluation based on diversity-related considerations.
However, some nursing faculty have challenged parts of that account. In a Feb. 18 news report, multiple School of Nursing faculty members told VPM News that diversity considerations were not actually part of promotion and tenure evaluations in recent years and disputed the compliance report’s characterization of changes to those criteria. They said the promotion and tenure materials they reviewed do not include diversity language and that such factors were not used in evaluations. In response, Glover said the University is reviewing the issue and that any necessary clarifications would be included in future quarterly reports.
McIntire School of Commerce
Admissions materials at the McIntire School of Commerce reflect similar revisions. Archived versions of graduate admissions materials from August 2025 included a required essay asking applicants to discuss aspects of their background, including race, gender or community, that would serve as a “source of strength.” Current application materials instead require an “Impact Essay” focused on academic or professional experiences, without reference to identity characteristics. Current materials do allow mention for personal experience.
While some admissions materials were revised, not all socially oriented programming at McIntire has been discontinued. The school’s M.S. in Global Commerce program continues to include its capstone social impact project, a five-week international consulting experience in which students work with nonprofit organizations, corporate social responsibility departments and social enterprises to “address real-world challenges.”
School of Engineering and Applied Science
At the School of Engineering and Applied Science, archived content shows the removal of a “Commitment to Diversity” section on the school’s “About” page describing efforts to increase representation of women and underrepresented populations. The section, which appears to have been removed around May 9 based on archived webpages, does not appear in current web materials.
Current graduate application materials at the School of Engineering and Applied Science reflect a mixed approach. The application includes personal statement prompts focusing on academic motivation, research interests, accomplishments and career goals. The application also includes an optional statement inviting applicants to describe how their “background, perspective or life experience(s)” have influenced their decision to pursue this specific graduate study and what they hope to achieve. The program continues to describe its admissions process as “holistic,” though the prompts do not explicitly reference race or other protected characteristics.
College of Arts and Sciences
Similar to the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the College of Arts and Sciences previously hosted a page framing diversity as central to its academic mission and strategic priorities. That archived web page — which discussed embedding diversity considerations across research and instruction — is no longer publicly accessible on the main website.
In addition to changes in website content and program language, the University has also modified its undergraduate application requirements. For the 2025-2026 admissions cycle, the University removed most supplemental essay prompts, leaving only the School of Nursing with a short written response requirement. In prior cycles, applicants were asked to respond to short-answer and background prompts beyond the Common App personal statement, including one that invited reflection on personal background and experience. Those have since been removed.
Administrative Divisions
The revisions were not limited to only academic units. Administrative offices across the University have also seen revisions. The University Finance website previously hosted a diversity resources page that has since been removed. Within the University’s procurement office — the office tasked with working with external suppliers of goods and services — a program previously existed that was known as “Supplier Diversity.” It focused on outreach to businesses owned by historically underrepresented groups, and it is now referred to as “Supplier Engagement.” Current materials emphasize reducing barriers for small businesses, increasing participation of small, women-owned and minority-owned firms in the request for proposal process and expanding vendor outreach and education efforts, rather than framing the initiative explicitly around diversity. Archived materials also indicate references to a Finance equity-focused committee that are no longer present.
Structural changes extended into administrative roles across the University. Based on analysis of title listings, The Cavalier Daily identified more than 30 professional title revisions following the March 7 Board resolution that removed explicit references to diversity, equity or inclusion from leadership and staff positions.
Among them, Vice President Kevin McDonald’s title shifted from Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Community Partnerships to Vice President for Community Engagement and Equal Opportunity. At the School of Engineering and Applied Science, an associate dean role previously designated for DEI was retitled to focus on community and engagement functions, and a similar renaming occurred within the School of Law. At the Darden School of Business, the position of Global Chief Diversity Officer was eliminated entirely.
Other changes affected procurement — the University’s purchasing and vendor contracting operations — as well as health system leadership and student affairs administration, where titles referencing diversity or inclusive excellence were replaced with language emphasizing engagement, wellbeing or opportunity. The University has not published a comprehensive accounting of these changes, but they appear consistent with the broader shift toward neutral terminology outlined in the legal guidance provided.
Hiring and recruitment materials were also affected. An archived webpage from the University’s website titled “Employment Equity” — that is no longer available in any form — previously provided recruitment and selection resources for new potential hires organized by phases of the hiring process. The page included materials such as “Comprehensive Search Plan Guide,” guidance on “Considering Contributions to the University’s Mission,” resources on “Interrupting Bias in Recruitment and Selection,” and a description of “The Role of an ‘Equity Coordinator’” in search processes. Additional materials addressed inclusive interview planning, permissible interview questions, faculty criteria development and documentation of the selection process.
School of Education and Human Development
The School of Education and Human Development has also updated several diversity-related webpages and initiatives. Archived materials indicate that a webpage displaying student organizations in the school once was categorized under “DEI Student Organizations.” The organization pages remain accessible, but they are now grouped under a broader “Clubs & Organizations” heading rather than under a DEI-specific classification.
The school also previously advertised a “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Small Grant” intended to fund interdisciplinary projects and events aimed at enhancing diversity, promoting equity and fostering inclusion among faculty, staff and students. According to archived descriptions, the grant provided modest funding for initiatives judged to have long-term potential impact and encouraged collaborative proposals across departments and centers. That funding opportunity no longer appears on the school’s public webpages.
Archived webpages also show the discontinuation of a Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Alumni-Student Mentoring Program within the School of Education and Human Development that had paired undergraduate students with alumni educators for professional guidance and skill development. Program descriptions stated it was designed with students of color in mind while remaining open to participants of all backgrounds. The program’s goals included improving student experience, retention and career development through sustained mentorship relationships. It is no longer listed among active initiatives.
Darden School of Business
In July 2025, the Darden School of Business ended partnerships with several organizations focused on expanding opportunities for underrepresented groups in business education.
The school broke ties with the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management — a relationship that lasted over 30 years — which aims to increase Black, Native American and Hispanic representation in business schools. Additionally, it terminated a two-decade partnership with the Forte Foundation — an organization advocating for women in business education.
Darden also cut ties with Reaching Out MBA, which provides scholarships and networking opportunities for LGBTQ+ students, and Management Leadership for Tomorrow, which focuses on economic mobility and workforce development.
Glover said in a statement to The Cavalier Daily that the compliance review remains ongoing and that its findings help inform the University’s quarterly certifications to the Department of Justice under the October 2025 agreement suspending federal investigations into the University’s civil rights practices. She also emphasized that the internal compliance assessment began prior to the Justice Department’s agreement, though some findings are now used to support reporting requirements tied to that agreement.
Whether viewed as legal compliance, administrative realignment or cultural repositioning, the available records indicate that adjustments tied to diversity, equity and inclusion have touched nearly every operational layer of the University.
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