Lafayette, LA — 5The University of Louisiana at Lafayette has officially closed its Office of Campus Inclusion, citing compliance with recent federal directives as the reason for the decision.
In a campus-wide email sent late Friday, university officials announced that operations at the office had ceased and that its two employees had accepted new positions within the university’s Office of Academic Affairs. The move follows a February letter from the U.S. Department of Education warning that federal funding could be withheld from institutions that maintained racial preference programs, prompting a wave of reviews across higher education institutions nationwide.
“The university is aligning its operations with federal guidance,” the university’s statement read. “DEI programs and activities that are led, sponsored and/or funded by the university are discontinued.”
While the university has reassigned some non-DEI functions previously managed by the Office of Campus Inclusion to other departments, it remains unclear which of the seven programs under the office’s purview will continue. Among those initiatives are the Council for Inclusive Excellence and the First Gen Students Program. The university did confirm that scholarships for first-generation students have been moved to other offices.
The decision has drawn criticism from some student organizations and advocates. Doc Theriot, a member-at-large with Giving Love Acceptance Safety and Support (GLASS), a campus organization that promotes diversity, expressed concern over the closure.
“The Office of Inclusion really did work and made students’ lives feel safe,” Theriot said. “It made students feel comfortable in the place that they live and work daily.”
She called the university’s decision disappointing and warned that the closure could signal a broader rollback of support systems for marginalized students.
“If the Office of Inclusion can get closed because of presidential mandates and such, there’s no bounds to what can happen,” she said. “It’s a slippery slope.”
In a written statement, UL spokesperson Eric Maron emphasized that the university remains committed to student success.
“It is our intent that all students are fully engaged in and find success at the university. This has not changed,” Maron said. “Engaging students and supporting their success remains a core part of our identity.”
The shutdown at UL reflects a growing national debate over the role of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in higher education. As legal and political pressures mount, universities across the country are reevaluating their DEI programming in an effort to remain in compliance with federal funding requirements.
For now, the long-term impact on UL’s student support services and campus culture remains uncertain.