ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The University of Alaska Anchorage has removed its chief diversity officer and the University of Alaska Fairbanks closed a diversity center as the university moves to respond to a "changing federal landscape," according to University of Alaska President Pat Pitney.

Pitney, in a letter Monday to the "UA Community," said she wanted to address the university's actions following the Board of Regents' decision last month to review programs and strike language related to diversity, equity and inclusion from websites, materials, titles and offices. The board called for using new terms, such as "equal opportunity for all."

"I recognize that the motion and resulting changes have stirred a range of strong feelings within our community," Pitney wrote. "Some are positive, but most express disappointment, and several express a sense of fear and loss."

The letter comes in the wake of warnings from the Trump administration that schools must abolish diversity initiatives or face federal funding cuts. The Department of Education also said recently that it was investigating more than 50 universities over race-based polices, though none are in Alaska.

The Board of Regents' decision sparked outrage and protests from students and faculty, who expressed concerns about free speech and academic independence.

Pitney's letter pointed out that the Board of Regents' decision affirmed support for freedom of expression and faculty academic freedom.

"Faculty have the academic freedom to carry out their independent research, publish, and teach their courses without the need to modify syllabi or curricula," she wrote. "A strong university environment encourages difficult dialog, challenges the status quo, and advances new knowledge and broad perspectives."

The letter contains a link to the university system's federal relations site that provides details on Trump administration actions and university responses, among other items.

Abel Bult-Ito, president of the Faculty Senate at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said he appreciated the letter from Pitney and is "cautiously optimistic" she will protect academic and speech freedoms.

But he said efforts to change diversity, equity and inclusion language are an attack on those freedoms.

"There is a little double speak, because if you instruct colleges or departments to remove language that includes those terms, then you violate academic freedoms," he said.

A professor of neurobiology and neurophysiology, Bult-Ito said a faculty-created value statement that contained a commitment to DEI language was recently removed from the Department of Biology and Wildlife webpage.

"I do not trust our administration right now to do the right thing," he said.

'Organizational changes'

The university system receives a large chunk of its revenue from the federal government, including about $200 million in fiscal year 2022.

The university system is focused on changing institutional language, website content and non-academic program descriptions, Pitney wrote in her letter.

The efforts include updating "our equal opportunity and nondiscrimination statements" to clarify "that our hiring, admission, and other practices have always been and remain consistent with federal nondiscrimination policies and laws."

"We're also reviewing office titles and space names for consistency with the board motion; to date, the more significant changes have been to change some of our Offices of Equity and Compliance around the system to be the Office of Rights, Compliance, and Accountability (ORCA)," she wrote.

An example of "organizational change" includes University of Alaska Anchorage Chancellor Sean Parnell deciding to "retire" the campus's position of chief diversity officer, she wrote.

Parnell and the diversity officer, Jennifer Booz, could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

The diversity officer's duties will be distributed to other cabinet members, Pitney wrote.

The duties had included implementing the university's diversity and inclusion plan, according to the university system website.

Another example of organizational change includes the closure of the Nanook Diversity and Action Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Pitney said.

That happened in January, before federal executive orders were issued, said Marmian Grimes, a spokesperson with the university. The last employee, who worked part-time, left the center before the closing.

"Vice Chancellor Owen Guthrie decided to close the office," Grimes said. "No employees were directly impacted by the closure. Two vacant positions were eliminated."

The Fairbanks university had been considering changes to the program for more than a year, she said.

Hudson Bolduc, a University of Alaska Fairbanks graduate student, said he was the last full-time staff coordinator leading the center.

Bolduc had worked there for more than two years, he said. But he said he left in November as it became clear the center and others like it could be threatened under Trump.

The center organized celebrations such as Black History Month, Women's History Month and other monthly recognitions for different cultures. It supported first-generation students and the school's LGBTQ+ community, and had other roles like disability advocacy, suicide prevention and anti-bias training for students, staff and faculty, he said.

"I'm sad to watch a program I had been part of so long dissolve, but I have high hopes the program will be brought back," he said.

The center can be renamed, he said, and work related to diversity can continue, he said.

"It's unfortunate, but right now, these are the cards we have to work with," he said. "I don't want to get political or anything like that, but this is what the university is being told to do, and so they're doing their best to execute what they're being told."

Grimes said the Fairbanks university had been planning to integrate the diversity center's resources into the Center for Student Engagement.

The university is now "in the midst of reorganizing the Center for Student Engagement so that they can ensure that our students feel welcome and that they belong at UAF," Grimes said.

The student-engagement center oversees efforts like student activities and leadership programs.

The reorganization is already seeing results, such as more activity within our 120 student clubs, she said.

"As a result of the ongoing changes at the Center for Student Engagement, our hope is that the closure of (the Nanook Diversity and Action Center) won't affect current or future students," she wrote.

Pitney says hiring practices, free expression, remain

Pitney's letter comes as the Trump administration uses the threat of funding cuts to change school policies. The U.S. Department of Education said Friday that it was investigating more than 50 universities, all outside Alaska, over what it described as race-based practices.

The inquiries come a month after the agency called on schools "to end the use of racial preferences" in programs and activities. The agency has cited a 2023 Supreme Court ruling on admissions to argue that if an educational institution treats a person differently because of their race, they violate the law.

Pitney's letter also addressed what she called "one particular concern" involving the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program.

The program earlier this year removed the words "Alaska Native" from its website, among other changes.

Pitney said in her letter that the program voluntarily modified the site before the Board of Regents' decision, and in response to National Science Foundation communications.

Jonathon Taylor, a spokesperson for the university, said that he could not speak to any specific communications from the foundation to the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program.

"At a high level, I can say that NSF has been working to conduct a comprehensive review of its projects, programs, and activities to be compliant with the existing executive orders that are not stayed or enjoined and has communicated that quite broadly," he said in an email Tuesday. "The changes made to ANSEP's website clarify that ANSEP is and has always been open to all students regardless of race or background."

Pitney's letter also included examples of things that are not changing at the university system, including:

—Hiring practices are already based on merit and student admission processes are open, so those processes are not changing, she said.

—"At no time" will the university attempt to prevent people from expressing their opinions, she said.

—Student clubs will continue to be able to represent themselves as they see fit on university websites and portals.

—There will be no impact to Alaska Native programs.

The UA system consists of universities in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau, with campuses and extended learning centers across the state.

_____

© 2025 the Alaska Dispatch News (Anchorage, Alaska). Visit www.adn.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.