Williams College agrees to remove DEI language to comply with federal funding rules
Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, has agreed to remove Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) language from its faculty handbook.
The revisions are part of a broader effort by the college to ensure compliance with current federal guidelines and to recertify its eligibility to receive new federal research funding.
Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, has agreed to remove Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) language from its faculty handbook, including references to affirmative action and provisions that previously emphasized “underrepresented groups” in the faculty hiring process, according to The Williams Record.
The revisions are part of a broader effort by the college to ensure compliance with current federal guidelines and to recertify its eligibility to receive new federal research funding.
The recertification process was paused in May after new federal rules required institutions to certify that they do not “promote or advance DEI initiatives in violation of federal antidiscrimination laws,” The Boston Globe reported.
During an October faculty meeting, seven motions pertaining to the handbook, which outlines college governance and faculty employment, were approved. Two of the motions removed explicit references to affirmative action and replaced them with a focus on “non-discrimination.”
Another motion struck language orienting the Bolin Fellowship toward underrepresented groups, while another removed racial provisions from the faculty-hiring section. The remaining three motions were either minor updates or unrelated to DEI policy.
The rewritten section now opens with a statement of values that reads: “The College recognizes that the strength of its liberal arts education depends on the inclusion of people of all identities and a multicultural and pluralistic range of perspectives.”
However, there is no longer any mention of outreach to or preference for minority candidates in the hiring process, according to The Williams Record.
Williams College first drew national attention to its DEI policies earlier this year when, on May 30, it announced a temporary pause on accepting new federal research grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The administration cited concerns over new federal conditions requiring colleges to certify that they do not promote DEI initiatives that could be interpreted as discriminatory under federal law.
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In a May 30 email to faculty, Williams College leadership described the new restrictions as undermining academic freedom, noting that refusing the grants could reduce legal risk. Inside Higher Ed noted that Williams College, whose faculty typically receives relatively few federal grants, appears to be among the first institutions to take such a step.
The future of DEI programming at Williams College remains uncertain, as the institution works to reconcile its stated commitment to diversity with evolving federal restrictions tied to research funding.
Campus Reform has reached out to Williams College for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
