On March 5, 15 attorneys general, including Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown, issued multistate guidance to K-12 schools, colleges, and universities on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility policies and practices in response to recent federal orders and agency guidance, including the U.S. Department of Education’s Dear Colleague Letter and FAQs.

The U.S. Department of Education released a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) following its Feb. 14 Dear Colleague Letter. The FAQs clarify compliance expectations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, the Equal Protection Clause, and Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. The document also addresses key issues such as whether educational institutions can organize certain campus activities, the legality of certain Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies and programs, the use of race-related essay prompts in admissions, and how the Office for Civil Rights will investigate and enforce compliance.  

The acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in the Department of Education sent a letter outlining new guidance for compliance with and enforcement of Title VI. More guidance from the U.S. Department of Education is expected.

The Attorneys General of 16 states, including Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, issued guidance concerning Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) employment initiatives. 

The presidential administration issued an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.” This order bans transgender athletes from competing in women’s and girls’ school-sponsored athletics. The order would further prioritize Title IX enforcement actions against educational institutions that allow transgender athletes to compete in women’s and girls’ sports programs and instructs all federal agencies to rescind funding to programs that fail to comply with the policy.

The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) within the U.S. Department of Education issued guidance to K-12 schools and institutions of higher education advising educators and administrators that OCR will enforce Title IX using the interpretation of “sex” to mean “the objective, immutable characteristic of being born male or female.”

The presidential administration issued an executive order titled “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism.” The order instructs a number of federal agencies to identify administrative or legal complaints of antisemitism after Oct. 7, 2023, involving higher education institutions and directs the U.S. Secretary of State, Secretary of Education, and Secretary of Homeland Security to provide a report and recommendations to familiarize institutions of higher education with the grounds for inadmissibility into the Unites States so that institutions may “monitor for and report activities” by international students, faculty, and staff “relevant to those grounds.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a directive rescinding a long-standing policy that identified schools, hospitals, and churches as “sensitive locations” and limited them from immigration enforcement actions. As a result, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will no longer treat these “sensitive locations,” including college campuses, differently from other locations.

The presidential administration issued an executive order titled “Protecting the American People Against Invasion.” This order requires the U.S. Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security to review contracts, grants, and agreements between the federal government and “non-governmental organizations supporting or providing services, either directly or indirectly, to removable or illegal aliens.”

The presidential administration issued an executive order titled “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.” This order requires federal agencies to terminate “equity-related” grants or contracts and all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) or diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) performance requirements for employees, contractors or grantees, and directs agencies to provide a list of contractors who have provided DEI training or training materials to federal employees and all grantees who have received federal funding to “provide or advance DEI, DEIA, or ‘environmental justice’ programs, services or activities since January 20, 2021.” On Jan. 31, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing the freeze of federal loans, grants, and other financial assistance, including grants with DEIA components. On Feb. 21, a federal judge in Maryland issued a nationwide preliminary injunction preventing federal agencies from pausing, canceling, terminating, or changing terms of current “equity-related” grants or contracts and from requiring contractors and grantees to certify that their programs do not promote DEI. It also prevents enforcement actions premised on such certifications. This is also related to the Jan. 21 “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” executive order indicated below. The injunction is in effect until further notice.