Under pressure from feds, University of Chicago cuts ties with program to help students of color get PhDs

The University of Chicago has severed its relationship with a program credited with aiding Black and Brown students to pursue doctoral degrees that the Trump administration alleges is racially discriminatory against white students.According to a Thursday press release from the U.S. Department of Education, the University of Chicago is one of 31 colleges nationwide ending its partnership with the PhD Project, an organization launched in 1994 aimed at diversifying the pool of students who pursue post-graduate degrees.In a statement, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said she hoped “other institutions with similarly discriminatory practices will follow suit.”The University of Chicago said it had ended its relationship with the PhD Project before the school was notified that the federal government was investigating the partnership. In a statement, spokesperson Gerald McSwiggan didn’t say why the university cut ties with the program but noted that it “takes seriously its obligation to prohibit unlawful discrimination.” McSwiggan didn’t immediately respond to follow-up questions.The end of these partnerships is yet another example of how the Trump administration has worked to restrict diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at K-12 schools and colleges, though those efforts have not always held up in court. Recently, the Education Department ended a controversial directive that sought to limit DEI initiatives in education after a federal judge ruled the policy was unlawful.Last year, the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights launched investigations into 45 universities, including the University of Chicago, saying they were looking into whether their partnerships with the PhD Project violated the…

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