Trump wants to change colleges nationwide. GOP-led states offer a preview

Nearly a decade ago, intense protests over racial injustice rocked the University of Missouri’s flagship campus, leading to the resignation of two top administrators. The university then hired its first-ever vice chancellor for inclusion, diversity and equity. Tensions were so high that football players were threatening a boycott and a graduate student went on hunger strike.

Today, the entire diversity office is gone, an example of changes sweeping universities in states led by conservatives, and a possible harbinger of things to come nationwide.

“I feel like that is the future, especially for the next four years of Trump’s presidency,” said Kenny Douglas, a history and Black studies major on the campus in Columbia, Missouri.

As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office, both conservative and liberal politicians say higher education changes in red parts of America could be a road map for the rest of the country.

Dozens of diversity, equity and inclusion programs have already closed in states including Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, Iowa, Nebraska and Texas. In some cases, lessons about racial and gender identity have been phased out. Supports and resources for underrepresented students have disappeared. Some students say changes in campus climate have led them to consider dropping out.

During his campaign, Trump vowed to end “wokeness” and “leftist indoctrination” in education. He pledged to dismantle diversity programs that he says amount to discrimination, and to impose fines on colleges "up to the entire amount of their endowment.”

Many conservatives have taken a similar view. Erec Smith, a research fellow at the free-market Cato Institute whose scholarship examines anti-racist activism and Black conservatism, said DEI sends the message that “whiteness is oppression." Diversity efforts are "thoroughly robbing Black people and other minorities of a sense of agency," he said.

The New College of Florida, a tiny liberal arts institution once known as the most progressive of Florida’s public campuses and a refuge for LGBTQ+ students, became a centerpiece for Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “war on woke.” DeSantis overhauled the school’s Board of Trustees in 2023, appointing a new majority of conservative allies, including culture war strategist Christopher Rufo.

Many faculty departed last year, leaving vacancies that the new leadership has filled with a variety of conservative academics — and non-academics, including British comedian and conservative commentator Andrew Doyle, who will be teaching a new course this January called “The Woke Movement.”

“This is only the beginning,” Rufo wrote in the forward to school President Richard Corcoran’s new book, “Storming the Ivory Tower.”

Trump’s opponents dismiss his depictions of liberal indoctrination on campuses as a fiction. But conservatives point to diversity programs and the student debt crisis as evidence colleges are out of touch.

“What happens if you are an institution that’s trying to change society?” asked Adam Kissel, a new trustee of the University of West Florida and a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation — the group behind Project 2025, a sweeping anti-DEI blueprint for a new GOP administration that Trump has disavowed while nominating some of its authors for administrative roles. “Society will push back on you.”

Pushback is exactly what DEI programs have faced.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, in March signed into law a bill barring state funding for public colleges that advocate for “divisive concepts” including that someone should feel guilty because of their race or gender. The law also states people at schools and colleges must use the bathroom that matches their gender assigned at birth.

The effects of the anti-DEI law rippled through campuses including the University of Alabama and Auburn University, the state’s two largest four-year colleges. DEI offices and designated areas for LGBTQ+ and Black students closed when classes started in late August — just before the law took effect.

Dakota Grimes, a graduate student in chemistry, was disappointed when Auburn University closed the campus’ Pride Center, a designated safe space for LGBTQ+ people and allies. Grimes' organization, Sexuality and Gender Alliance, still meets regularly in the library, she said, but LGBTQ+ students don’t feel as welcome on campus. Students are subjected to homophobic and transphobic slurs, Grimes said.

“They don’t feel safe just sitting in the student center because of the kind of environment that a lot of students and even teachers create on campus,” Grimes said.

Julia Dominguez, a political science senior at the University of Alabama and president of the Hispanic-Latino Association, said funding for the group’s annual Hispanic Heritage Month festival was pulled two weeks before the event in September. Students who were once excited about being at a school that celebrates Latino culture, she said, are now feeling dejected and disillusioned.

The organization isn’t giving up, Dominguez said.

“We are still present,” Dominguez said. “We are still doing the work. It’s just harder now. But we’re not going to allow that to steal our joy because joy is resistance.”

In Idaho, DEI programs have been under attack for years, with Republican lawmakers blasting efforts to build an inclusive culture as "divisive and exclusionary." In recent sessions, the Legislature has blocked colleges and universities from using taxpayer dollars on campus DEI programs. A 2024 law banned written “diversity statements” in higher education hiring and student admissions.

In December, the State Board of Education scrapped DEI offices, causing shockwaves at the University of Idaho. Doctoral student Nick Koenig is considering leaving the state.

“Where do your true values lie?” asked Koenig, who decided to move to Idaho to research climate change after a Zoom call with the then-director of the school’s LGBT center. “It’s not with the students that are most marginalized.”

So far, nearly all of the threats to DEI have come from state legislatures, said Jeremy Young, of the free-expression group PEN America.

“There hasn’t been much support at the federal level to do anything," he said. "Now, of course, that’s going to change.”

Young anticipates that diversity considerations will be eliminated for research grants and possibly for accreditation. The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights typically investigates discrimination against people of color, but under Trump, that office could start investigating diversity programs that conservatives argue are discriminatory.

Republicans also may have more leeway to take action at the state level, thanks to an administration that's “going to get out of the way of red states and let them pursue these policies," said Preston Cooper, a senior fellow who studies higher education policy at the American Enterprise Institute.

Colleges are also cutting some programs or majors seen as unprofitable. Whether politics plays into decisions to eliminate certain courses of student remains to be seen.

Douglas, the University of Missouri student, is concerned. He said the promise of change that followed the earlier protests on the Columbia campus has dissipated.

This fall, a student group he is part of had to rename its Welcome Black BBQ because the university wanted it to be “welcoming to all.” The Legion of Black Collegians, which started in 1968 after students waved a Confederate flag at a football game, complained the change was erasing its visibility on campus.

For Douglas and many others, the struggle for civil rights that prompted diversity efforts isn’t a thing of the past. “White people might have moved past it, but Black people are still experiencing it,” he said.

Hollingsworth reported from Kansas City, Missouri; Gecker from San Francisco; Richert from Boise, Idaho; Morris from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. AP Education Writer Alia Wong contributed from Washington.

Student Kenny Douglas poses for a photo at the University of Missouri where he is a a history and Black studies major, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Columbia, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Nick Koenig, a University of Idaho doctoral student who teaches in climate change and sociology, poses for a photo on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, on campus in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Nick Koenig, a University of Idaho doctoral student who teaches in climate change and sociology, poses for a photo on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, on campus in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Nick Koenig, a University of Idaho doctoral student who teaches in climate change and sociology, poses for a photo on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, inside the Student Diversity Center on campus in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Nick Koenig, a University of Idaho doctoral student who teaches in climate change and sociology, poses for a photo on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, on campus in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Nick Koenig, a University of Idaho doctoral student who teaches in climate change and sociology, sorts canned goods as he volunteers on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024 for the West Side Food Pantry near the University of Idaho campus in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Nick Koenig, a University of Idaho doctoral student who teaches in climate change and sociology, poses for a photo on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, on campus in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Nick Koenig, a University of Idaho doctoral student who teaches in climate change and sociology, poses for a photo on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in the student lounge area of the LGBTQA office on campus in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Nick Koenig, a University of Idaho doctoral student who teaches in climate change and sociology, poses for a photo on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, on campus in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Student Kenny Douglas poses for a photo at the University of Missouri where he is a a history and Black studies major, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Columbia, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Student Kenny Douglas poses for a photo at the University of Missouri where he is a a history and Black studies major, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Columbia, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

The new tariffs announced Wednesday by U.S. President Donald Trump were met initially with measured reactions from key trading partners, highlighting the lack of appetite for a full-fledged trade war.

Trump presented the import taxes, which he calls “reciprocal tariffs” and range from 10% to 49%, in the simplest terms: the U.S. would do to its trading partners what he said they had been doing to the U.S. for decades.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said they are a “major blow to the world economy,” while a Japanese official called them “extremely regrettable” and Korea's prime minister called for emergency measures to support industries affected by the tariffs. Asian markets tumbled in Thursday morning trading.

Here's the latest:

The Thai prime minister says her country is ready to negotiate with the U.S. to find a fair trade balance for both sides, after Trump announced 36% tariffs on Thailand.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra said Thursday that Thailand is committed to working with the U.S. to achieve sustainable economic growth.

She added that Thai exporters should also look for additional markets for their products to reduce their risk of relying on one main market.

Indian exporters and analysts say Trump’s new tariffs are a mixed bag for the country.

Trump announced a reciprocal tariff of 26% for India, as compared to 34% for China, 46% for Vietnam, 37% for Bangladesh and 36% for Thailand.

Observers said Thursday the move will likely impact Indian industry and pressure jobs, but that there is room for new business to come in since India is in a lower band than its Asian peers.

“These tariffs do present challenges, but India’s position remains comparatively favorable,” said S.C Ralhan, president of the Federation of Indian Exports Organisations.

Ajay Srivastava, a former Indian trade official and founder of the New Delhi-based think tank Global Trade Research Initiative, said the protectionist tariff regime could be a catalyst for India to gain from global supply chain realignments.

Vietnam, Sri Lanka and other countries across South and Southeast Asia are the targets of some of the highest tariff rates.

Trump imposed 46% “reciprocal” duties on goods from Vietnam, 49% on products from Cambodia, 37% on Bangladesh and 44% on Sri Lanka.

The duties will affect domestic exporters to the U.S. but also Chinese, Japanese and South Korean companies that have over the past few years shifted production to Southeast Asian nations to escape the trade frictions during Trump’s first term in office.

Automaker Stellantis will shut down its assembly plant in Windsor, Canada, for two weeks from April 7, the local union said late Wednesday.

The president of Unifor Local 444, James Stewart, said more scheduling changes were expected in coming weeks.

“The company said there are multiple factors at play, with the primary driver behind the final decision being this afternoon’s announcement from U.S. President Donald Trump of the U.S. tariffs,” Stewart said. “This has and continues to create uncertainty across the entire auto industry. This is not just affecting our plant—it’s impacting facilities in the U.S. and Mexico as well.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the tariffs are a “major blow to the world economy.”

“The consequences will be dire for millions of people around the globe,” von der Leyen said. Groceries, transport and medicines will cost more, she said, “And this is hurting, in particular, the most vulnerable citizens.”

Von der Leyen acknowledged that the world trading system has “serious deficiencies” and said the EU was ready to negotiate with the U.S.

Japan’s chief cabinet secretary has called the tariffs “extremely regrettable,” saying officials thought the country deserved an exemption, after Trump slapped 24% additional tariffs on Japan.

Yoshimasa Hayashi on Thursday also questioned whether the tariffs are compatible with Japan-U.S. bilateral trade agreements and said the move would likely impact their economic ties, as well as the global economy and multilateral trade system.

He said Japanese officials are continuing to negotiate with Washington seeking an exemption. Asked if Japan would consider retaliatory tariffs or file complaints with the World Trade Organization, Hayashi declined to comment.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index dipped more than 3.4%, while the Kospi in South Korea dropped 1.8%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 also sank 1.8%.

U.S. stocks whipped through another dizzying day before Trump’s unveiled the tariffs Wednesday. The S&P 500 rose 0.7%, and the Dow gained 0.6%. The Nasdaq composite surged 0.9%.

Tesla swung from a sharp loss in the morning to a gain later in the day to help pull the market higher. Treasury yields also veered from lower to higher following a better-than-expected report on the job market.

▶ Read more about markets’ reaction to the tariffs

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer fielded mostly friendly questions during an hourlong telephone town hall with constituents in Minnesota.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has encouraged Republican lawmakers to avoid holding in-person town halls where they’d run the risk of hostile questioning and protesters.

Emmer extensively praised the actions that Trump has been taking in his first months back in office, including the tariffs he announced earlier Wednesday.

“How about we give this guy some grace while he tried to actually do what he’s been campaigning on for years and his mission to protect American companies and workers?” Emmer said. “There’s still going to be some choppy waters, but when we come out the other side, it’s going to be much better than it was beforehand, and certainly much better than it was the last four years.”

South Korea’s acting leader called for swift emergency measures to support the auto industry and other businesses potentially affected by the Trump administration’s new tariffs, pledging full government efforts to address what he described as a looming “global tariff war.”

During an emergency government meeting, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo also instructed officials to work with business groups to analyze the impact of the U.S. tariff increases and actively engage in negotiations with Washington to “minimize damage” to South Korea’s economy, the trade ministry said.

Han, serving as South Korea’s acting leader while President Yoon Suk Yeol remains impeached over his December imposition of martial law, convened the meeting with trade and foreign policy officials after Trump announced a 25% tariff on South Korea.

Merchandise is displayed in a kitchen and restaurant supply store in New York, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Stacks of lumber are set up on shelves at a local Lowes store Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)