TCU cuts Diversity and Inclusion office amid funding cut threats, higher-ed politicization

FORT WORTH, Texas — Texas Christian University has eliminated its Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and several web pages related to DEI and LGBTQ services have been scrubbed from the university’s website.

Universities are under a political microscope as the Trump administration threatens funding cuts to schools that have diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. In the same vein, the president has ordered federal contractors to roll back DEI initiatives.

Across the country, the move has led to the scaling back and elimination of programs and web pages that could be in violation of the president’s orders. TCU in Fort Worth, a private university with more than 10,500 undergraduate students and 1,800 graduate students, appears to be no exception.

TCU is expected to receive $17.4 million in federal grants and $23.6 million in direct payments from the federal government in fiscal year 2025, which runs from Oct. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30.

“I don’t see this ending,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political science professor, of the Republican push to end DEI in higher education. “This seems to be more of a crusade than a battle.”

TCU’s website had promoted its DEI initiatives on its homepage under the “About TCU” section. The Star-Telegram reported on Feb. 3 that the page had disappeared from its prominent position on the page and that the university’s main DEI page was now a broken link.

At the time, the Star-Telegram reported that the university’s web page for its TCU’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion was still active, but as of April 9, it links out to a page for the Center for Connection Culture founded in 2013. The center was created to “protect and strengthen TCU’s commitment to building and sustaining a connected community,” according to its web page.

Holly Ellman, a spokesperson for TCU, confirmed late April 8 that the university no longer has an Office of Diversity and Inclusion. There were no job losses, Ellman said in a follow up email.

The university did not make leadership available for an interview on the office’s closure and did not say why the office was closed.

“TCU fosters a community of growth where all Horned Frogs feel included and supported,” the web page for the Center for Connection Culture reads.

The site links out to community initiatives for LGBTQ+ students, Native American and Indigenous peoples.

It also shares information about the university’s “Race and Reconciliation Initiative,” which began in 2020 to “investigate and document TCU’s relationship with slavery, racism and the Confederacy,” and information about the university’s “Portrait Project.” The project features portraits of historically marginalized and underrepresented members of the TCU community.

Links on the web page for LGBTQ resources through Student Affairs, a link for “Allyship and Training” and a link for LGBTQ sexual health services did not work as of April 9. A site for “LGBTQ+ Care at TCU” was active on the web page for the Brown-Lupton Health Center as of at least April 6, when the Star-Telegram took a screenshot of the page.

The Health Center’s page offers more general information about sexual health, though links related to the HPV vaccine and pregnancy testing and referrals were not working as of April 10.

On the Student Affairs website, the university says it “actively engages in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging practices through our devoted care for all students and the identities, cultures, and backgrounds they hold.” But a link to learn more takes users to a web page that doesn’t work.

Elimination of DEI a nationwide trend

The trend aligns with what’s being seen at universities and federal contractors across the country, like Columbia University where DEI websites have been removed, according to the Columbia Spectator, and Harvard, where the Trump administration has issued a list of demands to avoid federal funding cuts, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Locally, Lockheed Martin removed its DEI web page and said it won’t have affirmative action goals, following a Trump executive order.

As universities face national political pressure, scrutiny also extends to Tarrant County.

The Tarrant County Republican Party is calling for a return to “traditional values” at TCU, targeting university policies, courses and employees as it publicly advocates for a “Christian worldview” and “conservative values” at the private university.

TCU has roots with the Disciples of Christ going back to 1873, but it welcomes students of all faiths and those who do not believe in any faith, according to the university’s website.

“This is not Columbia, and it’s not Yale,” said SMU political science professor Cal Jillson. “It’s not Beloit. It’s TCU for Christ’s sake, and so the idea that TCU is sort of pursuing liberal indoctrination from the president and chancellor’s offices on down, it’s just nonsense.”

Tarrant GOP targets TCU’s programs, professors

The political party and its chair Bo French have highlighted a slew of programs and professors they oppose in a series of emails and social media posts over the past year.

As recently as April 5, French highlighted what he described as “rampant leftism, DEI, and gender ideology plaguing the school,” urging the university’s board of trustees to “do the right thing, course correct, and save TCU from ruining its legacy” ahead of an April 11 board of trustees meeting.

French didn’t return a phone call or respond to interview requests sent by email and text.

State Rep. Nate Schatzline of Fort Worth joined the party chair in calling for reforms at the university in a social media post.

“Let’s be clear, Texas ‘Christian’ University is NOT a Christian University,” he said in an April 5 post on X. “I hope this changes!”

Schatzline did not respond to a call seeking comment.

The Star-Telegram reached out to TCU about the party’s posts via email and corresponded with Ellman several times related to the request, seeking an interview with university leadership, but a university official did not weigh in.

The Star-Telegram could not reach board of trustees chair Kit Tennison Moncrief or vice chair Edward Clark.

U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, a trustee and Willow Parks Republican who represents part of Tarrant County in Congress, did not return requests for comment emailed to his congressional office related to the local party’s messaging. State Rep. Charlie Geren, a Fort Worth Republican and trustee, declined to comment.

Texas lawmakers in 2023 passed a law restricting DEI initiatives at public universities, but private institutions are largely sheltered from interference at a state law level, political experts say. Still, that hasn’t shielded the schools from political pressure. At the federal level, lawmakers — like Trump — can have a more direct influence.

DEI is unpopular among Republicans, said Mark Jones, a Rice University political science professor.

Republicans have seized on this, he said.

“With the Trump administration engaged in actions to end DEI practices at public and private universities across the country, it’s not surprising that Tarrant County Republicans are effectively trying to pursue the same, push the same agenda locally.”