Frank A. Boyd, Ph.D.
Frank Boyd is Vice President of the Higher Education Practice at McAllister & Quinn. Frank brings 26 years of experience in higher education as a faculty member and academic administrator.
In the first month of his second term, President Trump has issued a series of sweeping policy changes for higher education. A torrent of executive orders (EOs), memos, and dear colleague letters has cascaded out of the White House with directives that would stand to dramatically reshape the work of many colleges and universities. The language in several of the notices is somewhat ambiguous, and there will be legislative and judicial efforts to clarify the requirements of implementing the orders.
How should presidents react? At McAllister & Quinn, we have colleagues who are on Capitol Hill every week, and our corps of research analysts are focused on gathering intelligence from grant-awarding federal agencies. More than ever before, presidents and other campus leaders need accurate information and counsel to help make the right decisions for their campuses at the right time. The national associations have provided crucial intelligence and provided the discursive space needed for leaders to consult with experts and with each other on the way forward.
McAllister & Quinn is a proud sponsor of these associations, such as the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU), the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), and the American Council on Education (ACE). Many of these organizations hosted their annual meetings and advocacy days in Washington, DC soon after the inauguration, and the proximity of our offices near the White House ensures that the leadership of McAllister & Quinn actively participates in these national meetings. It also positions McAllister & Quinn to work with our colleagues in higher education associations to provide important perspective on some of the key actions taken by President Trump in the last month:
Timeline: Key Executive Orders for Higher Education in 2025
- January 21: two executive orders that target diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs to end discrimination based on race and to eliminate what Trump officials call wasteful spending in higher education and other sectors. US District Court judge Adam Abelson issued a preliminary injunction that prevents the administration from moving forward with implementation.
- January 27: memorandum from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) orders that funding for federal grants and loans was to be temporarily paused. Rescinded on January 29.
- January 29: an executive order that directs universities to “monitor” and “report activities by alien students and staff” for actions that constitute antisemitism.
- January 31: directive regarding Title IX that narrows the definition of sexual harassment and limits the liability of institutions that undertake investigations.
- February 5: an EO that threatened to “rescind all funds from educational programs” that disallowed transgendered athletes to compete in collegiate sports, and/or policies that do not comply with the EO on January 31 that changed Title IX guidelines.
- February 14: Scholarships, centers, and programming that focus on race were defined as illegal by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in a “Dear Colleague” letter. It is unclear whether the directions in the letter are directly affected by the court injunction on February 21 that stays the January 21 EOs noted above.
- February 17: the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that the percentage of grant funds allocated for indirect costs (institutional overhead for administration and operations), will be capped at 15%, far lower than the rate at which most institutions employ these resources. A federal judge for the Federal District Court of Massachusetts issued an injunction to stop the rate decrease earlier this month, and on February 21 Judge Angel Kelly extended the stay.
- February 26: an EO aims to transform federal spending related to covered government contracts, grants and loans. The order requires that agencies, in consultation with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), review all existing covered contracts and grants within the next 30 days. Agencies are required to prioritize the review of funds disbursed to educational institutions and foreign entities with a view to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse.
Higher education associations are key actors in helping college and university presidents gather and process the information required to make sound decisions. Even as they provide intelligence and analysis on specific agencies and programs, they are also providing boarder advice that is coalescing around two themes.
How Higher Education Leaders Should Respond to Trump’s Executive Orders
Stay Calm and Carry On – In response to some of the proposed changes at federal agencies like the NSF, Department of Education, and NIH, policymakers and the leaders of higher education associations have encouraged campus leaders to proceed in a measured fashion. The historian Timothy Snyder warns against leaders choosing vorauseilender Gehorsam, a German noun that means “anticipatory obedience,” and a similar theme has been shared by association leaders. For example, Donna Carroll, president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU), described the flurry of executive actions as “concerning, confusing and exhausting.” In response, President Carroll advised Catholic leaders to “think before we act” to ensure that institutional actions are both consistent with their mission and with the law.
In a similar vein, the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) messaged its members soon after the temporary pause on federal grant funding in late January (the pause was stayed by a federal injunction). The CCCU cautioned against quick institutional actions by securing early intelligence from the Department of Education that clarified that the OMB directive as only covering discretionary grants programs, thereby excluding programs like Title I, IDEA, or other formula grants.
President Ted Mitchell of ACE, who served as Undersecretary of Education under President Obama, noted that “Dear Colleague” letters do not have the force of law. He cautioned that, “Overcompliance, anticipatory compliance, or preemptive compliance is not a strategy.”
The Future of DEI Programs in Higher Education
What Does DEI Mean? More specifically, what do the rulings by the federal courts—especially The Supreme Court—say about DEI on college campuses? The EO from the Trump Administration has a broad scope that would potentially impact a very wide swath of existing practice in higher education. And while many analysts expect the courts to allow restriction on some programs and policies, there is an emerging consensus that’s articulated by the American Council on Education (ACE). In an Inside Higher Ed piece, ACE’s Jon Fansmith is quoted as saying that, “We don’t agree with the conclusions they’re drawing and we’re not sure a lot of courts will agree with the conclusions they’re drawing.” “This idea that anything that speaks to diversity is somehow discriminatory is very, very far out of the norm and very much outside of the law.”
NAICU provides more specific counsel regarding the guidance from the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) at the DOE. Noting that the Trump administration wants to leverage the decision from Students for Fair Admission vs. Harvard University, NAICU notes that the guidance also alludes to how race and discrimination are taught in college courses, a dictum that is not likely to survive judicial scrutiny under the First Amendment of the Constitution. Their guidance provides a nuanced approach to other policies that might be grouped under DEI, as defined in the EO.
Finally, the President of the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), Marjorie Hass, suggested that the OCR’s “dear colleague letter” offers an opportunity for higher ed leaders, arguing that:
campus leaders can also take this as an opportunity to enact real change on behalf of all students. This is a moment for campus leaders to reframe the terms of the current debate over the legitimacy of special diversity, equity and inclusion programs by doing the long-needed work of truly decentering whiteness as the normative identity and experience within so many campus curricula and co-curricular programs.
Hass’ essay offers a sober reading of the OCR letter while providing leaders with suggestions for on-campus work that is forward-looking while acknowledging the challenges ahead.
Conclusion: National Associations Supporting Their Members
If nothing else, the actions of the White House manifest a posture that the Trump Administration promised before the election. One common observation from each of these associations’ annual meetings is that the presidents are largely taking the tumult of the last month in stride, with each focused on their institution’s mission and broader challenges. For instance, the leadership of Catholic institutions are concerned about their mission-related commitment to social justice, some parts of which are directly related to some definitions of DEI. NAICU’s meeting concentrated on the procedural and legal aspects of the federal budget and appropriations process, and ACE continues to advocate for higher education as an entire sector. Collectively, associations in higher education have mobilized quickly to articulate the concerns of their member institutions, and they have been important sources of ongoing information regarding President Trump’s policy initiatives.
More than ever before, the national associations that aggregate the interests and voices of higher education will be important advocates for colleges and universities. They have been key partners for McAllister & Quinn, and we will continue our longtime support of these organizations in service to the more than 140 institutions with which we work.
About McAllister & Quinn
McAllister & Quinn is a premier federal grant consulting and government relations firm. Based in Washington, DC, McAllister & Quinn’s unique approach has helped college and university clients secure over $1 billion in federal and foundation grant funding. For more information about how McAllister & Quinn partners with institutions, please Contact Frank Boyd to schedule a conversation.