TCU's website boasted DEI as 'key to the university's mission.' Now that page is gone

Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Feb 3, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

References to TCU’s efforts at diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, have disappeared from prominent positions on the university’s website, including a highly visible spot on its homepage and in the “About TCU” section.

A TCU spokesperson said Monday that content on the homepage is switched out periodically, and information about DEI is still available elsewhere on the site. But the change comes at a time of intense scrutiny of DEI efforts across the country, from the Trump administration’s shakeups of federal agencies to Texas leaders who are vigorously enforcing a state ban on DEI at public universities.

TCU’s main page about DEI on its website is now a broken link. Before this week, the page said “Teaching and promoting diversity and inclusion is key to the university’s mission of creating global citizens.”

It explained what DEI means — “TCU’s commitment to creating an environment where students, faculty and staff thrive, and a campus community that is welcoming and respectful of all.”

The web page for TCU’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion is still active, along with pages on websites for schools and colleges within the university.

The university’s “about” page used to have a short statement affirming TCU’s commitment to celebrating diversity in all its forms. “That’s why we’ve included diversity, equity and inclusion in our core curriculum and made it a theme of our strategic plan,” the page said.

TCU spokesperson Holly Ellman said in an email to the Star-Telegram that the website may have been re-arranged to consolidate information about DEI initiatives onto the Office of Diversity and Inclusion page. As of Monday, it does not appear that any of the removed content is appearing on that page, either.

Trump signed an executive order Jan. 21 to ban DEI initiatives in the federal government and among its contractors. About a week after the order, the administration attempted to pause all federal grants and loans to ensure they complied with the administration’s goals.

Lockheed Martin, which holds billions of dollars in contracts with the government, took down its DEI webpage shortly after Trump signed the order.

After last week’s crash of an American Airlines commuter jet in Washington, the president and his transportation secretary blamed without evidence the previous administrations’ DEI efforts for the disaster and speculated the air traffic controllers were unqualified.

On Jan. 14, Texas Gov. Greg Abbot threatened to remove the president of Texas A&M University after an email surfaced inviting some staff to a conference whose attendance was limited to Black, Hispanic or Native American participants.

TCU, as a private university, in not subject to state laws banning participation in programs supporting diversity, equity and inclusion. It does however, receive a small portion of its funding from federal grants, according to university data.

TCU received roughly $158 million in federal grants between 2014 and 2024. That only made up 2.5% of the university’s revenue over that same time period.

_____