National DEI Defense Coalition
Uniting, Not Dividing Americans
About the Coalition
The National DEI Defense Coalition is comprised of hundreds of Americans who know the truth about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and policies in U.S. higher education. They are professors, researchers, culture practitioners, and administrators representing a wide range of geographic regions and institution types. Later this spring, the coalition will expand to include students from colleges and universities across the nation. A commitment to protecting students, employees, higher education institutions, and our democracy from the dangers of misinformation and disinformation about DEI unites coalition members.
We value data and evidence. Coalition members are deeply persuaded by more than five decades of empirical research that confirms the value of DEI for higher education and democracy. Student and practitioner knowledge about what DEI is and does on campuses also is deeply valued. Through the production and wide dissemination of sharable assets, open-access educational resources, and engagement with expert scholars and leaders, the coalition aims to teach the nation truths about DEI and end politicized attacks against it. Grants from the Amalgamated Charitable Foundation and Spencer Foundation support the coalition’s activities.
Coalition Goals
- Save our democracy from the harms of misinformation and disinformation, divisive political agendas, and harmful anti-DEI policy activities.
- Unite Americans who know and are qualified to tell truths about DEI programs and policies on college campuses.
- Leverage data and evidence to protect college students and employees from politicized attacks on DEI programs and policies that were created to protect them.
- Develop and widely disseminate useful resources to teach the nation what DEI is and does, as well as why it is so essential to American higher education.
- Inform policymaking and journalism through evidence-based resources and access to experts who are qualified to tell truths about DEI on college campuses.
Truths About DEI Report
The USC Race and Equity Center published a report in response to politicized attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in American higher education. Last spring, the United States House of Representatives held a two-hour hearing titled, “Divisive, Excessive, Ineffective: The Real Impact of DEI on College Campuses.” USC Professor Shaun Harper, our center’s founder and chief research scientist, united 11 other highly-respected experts on DEI in higher education for rapid responses to the voluminous inaccuracies, exaggerations, and misrepresentations conveyed in the congressional hearing. Less than two weeks later, our center released this 62-page compendium of evidence-based essays.
Let’s Talk About DEI
The Podcast
Next month, the coalition will begin releasing episodes for a new podcast featuring students, experts, and DEI professionals. All episodes will be available on this site, as well as on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. In addition to discussing timely issues and amplifying truths about DEI, the host and guests will also provide useful recommendations to listeners.
Downloadable and Shareable Graphics
Over the past several months, college and university presidents, professors, researchers, chief diversity officers and DEI practitioners, and legislators have contributed to the development of usable assets. Coalition members invite you to download the graphics in this section and send them directly to people in your communities, workplaces, and social media networks. These graphics were intentionally designed for sharing via text messaging and for social media posts. You do not need to secure our permission to disseminate these materials – they are free and open access.
We will occasionally update this gallery with new shareable graphics; please periodically check back for additional downloadable assets.
Click on an image below to download and share
Insights from Americans Who Know What’s True
“As a legislator, I am constantly bombarded with information – some of it legitimate and some of it not. Good data and credible evidence provide unbiased snapshots of what is or is not happening in our communities, which truly matters. For example, my committee recently killed a bill that would require every K-12 school and college in Idaho to record and report the immigration status and nationality of every enrolled student. The rationale for the bill was that immigrant students cost more to educate, yet committee members had received no evidence or data that this was true. Data and evidence should be essential legislative tools to ensure we do not blindly exclude and ‘other’ members of historically marginalized communities.”
– Rep. Chris Mathias, Idaho House of Representatives
“Data, statistics, and evidence are bedrock to promoting equal opportunity in democratic societies. Rather than framing DEI programs as on the ‘take,’ in reality in higher education, science, and the workforce, they are on the ‘give.’ Wherever you learn, wherever you work, and whoever you are, using reliable, verifiable information to eliminate barriers benefits all.”
– Dr. Felice J. Levine, Executive Director, American Educational Research Association
“This moment when the fundamental principles undergirding higher education and American democracy are under assault, is also one of unimagined opportunity. The DEI Defense Coalition, by offering a comprehensive path toward a bold vision of multiracial democracy, reminds us that our public commitments toward justice require courage, conscience, and solidarity. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us at the March On Washington: ‘Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy.’”
– Dr. Peniel E. Joseph, Barbara Jordan Chair in Ethics and Political Values, University of Texas at Austin
“One of the key challenges in fighting anti-DEI efforts is the preponderance of misinformation and a clear unwillingness to acknowledge promising DEI practices and policies. We need a collective pro-DEI strategy rooted in facts, not falsehoods, and grounded in action, rather than distraction. The National DEI Defense Coalition is building the grassroots movement we need to ensure equity and the promise of democratized education.”
– Dr. Lori Patton Davis, Heyman Endowed Chair and Educational Leadership Program Faculty Director, UCLA
“It is critical for institutions to use data and evidence to understand the impact of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives on campuses. We need to avoid overheated rhetoric and instead actually have a conversation about what diversity-related initiatives do and the important roles they play in advancing institutional missions.”
– Dr. Julie J. Park, Professor of Higher Education, University of Maryland
“I urge people who are skeptical or resistant to supporting DEI work to take time to learn what DEI really means and accomplishes. Extensive evidence shows that having diverse and inclusive organizations leads to more creativity, innovation, scientific advancements, and productive organizations. These outcomes are clear proof that diversity serves all of us, maximizes every public dollar investment by advancing better services and solutions for all. In these and many other ways, DEI is crucial to democracy.”
– Dr. Leslie D. Gonzales, Professor and Director, Center for the Study of Higher Education, University of Arizona
Guidance for Institutions and Policymakers
We will occasionally update this section with new reports, articles, statements, and other useful materials; please periodically check back for additional links.
Legal Response to Trump Executive Orders and the Federal ‘Dear Colleague’ Letter
By 33 Professors from 18 Law Schools
What Schools and Students Need to Know about the Federal ‘Dear Colleague’ Letter
By the NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Guidance to the U.S. Department of Education
By American Council on Education and 67 Associations/Networks
Considerations for College and University Governing Boards
By Center for Strategic and Inclusive Governance
Join the Coalition
We invite Americans who value DEI and are willing to use what credible evidence says about its true aims and impact to protect higher education and democracy.