This post was updated Nov. 6 at 11:08 p.m.
The UC eliminated its Department of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion on Oct. 27, replacing it with the Office of Culture and Inclusive Excellence.
The EDI department previously said its purpose was to dismantle “all forms of systemic discrimination,” according to its now-removed page on the UC Office of the President website. It also said UCOP was committed “to building an enduring anti-racist organization,” while the new OCIE homepage makes no references to race or racism.
The change in the office’s name follows President Donald Trump pressuring universities to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs, including by threatening to withhold federal funding from institutions that do not comply. The U.S. Department of Justice sent a proposed settlement to UCLA in August demanding that it end its diversity-related programs in exchange for the university’s then-frozen federal research funding.
Lalitha Sankaran, the director of the OCIE, announced the change in an Oct. 27 newsletter sent to UCOP employees. She said the change followed a comprehensive review of the EDI department by stakeholders, which found that UCOP would benefit from focusing more on strengthening culture, belonging and inclusive leadership.
Sankaran, who was previously the director of UCOP’s Office of Workplace Inclusion and Belonging and its EDI department, added in the newsletter that the OCIE’s establishment is a “natural next step” in building on the EDI department’s work.
“By placing greater emphasis on culture and inclusive excellence, UCOP is better positioned to advance its mission, strengthen collaboration with our campus partners, and more fully realize the University’s public mandate,” she said in the newsletter.
A UCOP spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the new office will focus more on driving organizational change rather than hosting events. They added in the statement that the process to change the office began in early 2024.
“Our values remain the same – we believe all staff should feel respected and have a sense of belonging and purpose in their work at UCOP,” they said in the statement. “This new operational structure will benefit the entire UCOP community and emphasizes our shared commitment to fostering a workplace where all employees can thrive.”
UCOP has also not made any public statement on whether or not the EDI department’s staff members will transition to the OCIE. Sankaran is currently the only staff member listed on OCIE’s website, while the names of the three other previously listed EDI department staff members do not appear and no staff directory is listed.
The OCIE’s mission is to foster a community of belonging and “enhance an organizational culture where through inclusive leadership, every employee feels respected,” according to its website.
Several universities – including the University of Michigan, the University of Southern California and the University of Virginia – have closed or renamed their diversity-related offices in response to the federal directives. The UC announced it would eliminate diversity statements in its hiring processes March 19.
The Trump administration froze $584 million of UCLA’s federal research funding in late July, alleging that the university allowed antisemitism, affirmative action and “men to participate in women’s sports.”
A federal district court judge temporarily reinstated UCLA’s frozen National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health grants in August and September, respectively, which constituted the bulk of the grants. The judge’s decision will hold while the case challenging the funding freeze – brought by UC researchers – moves through the courts.
The U.S. Department of Justice sent UCLA a settlement proposal in August demanding that the university pay $1 billion – along with an additional $172 million in a claims fund for employees impacted by violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act – to regain its federal research funding. The settlement also demanded that UCLA eliminate diversity-related initiatives, stop offering gender-affirming health care to minors at its hospitals and hire two new administrators to oversee the school.
UC President James Milliken said the proposal would “devastate” the university in an Aug. 8 statement. The UC has made no indication that it would accept the proposal.
“As a public university, we are stewards of taxpayer resources and a payment of this scale would completely devastate our country’s greatest public university system as well as inflict great harm on our students and all Californians,” Milliken said the statement. “Americans across this great nation rely on the vital work of UCLA and the UC system for technologies and medical therapies that save lives, grow the U.S. economy and protect our national security.”
