Amid the Trump administration’s crackdowns on identity politics, the Department of Education has launched an investigation into the University of North Texas over alleged race discrimination policies.
The DOE’s Office of Civil Rights has begun investigating 45 U.S. universities for their alleged partnerships with The PhD Project—an organization that limits participation eligibility based on race. Specifically, white and Asian students are excluded from participating in the program.
The University of North Texas at Denton and Rice University, a private Texas institution, are among the schools under investigation.
“Students must be assessed according to merit and accomplishment, not prejudged by the color of their skin. We will not yield on this commitment,” stated U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.
An archived mission statement from The PhD Project’s website states that its goal is to “increase workplace diversity by increasing the diversity of business school faculty[.]”
Additionally, its vision statement read that it seeks to create “a significantly larger talent pipeline of Black/African Americans, Latinx/Hispanic Americans and Native Americans/Canadian Indigenous for business leadership positions.”
The new revelation comes after Texas A&M University Mays Business School faculty members were exposed last month for sending emails to graduate students inviting them to participate in The PhD Project’s race-exclusionary conference.
Conservative writer Christopher Rufo gained access to the emails and posted them to X. “TAMU is supporting racial segregation and breaking the law,” Rufo wrote.
Rufo is referencing a law that took effect last year which requires universities to dismantle DEI offices and eliminate discriminatory hiring and training programs.
When asked about the university’s involvement in the conference, Gov. Greg Abbott responded emphatically on X: “Hell no. It’s against Texas law and violates the U.S. Constitution. It will be fixed immediately, or the president will soon be gone.”
Welsh later announced the university would no longer be participating, saying that “Texas A&M does not support any organization, conference, process or activity that excludes people based on race, creed, gender, age or any other discriminating factor.”
Since then, eight additional Texas universities listed as partners with The PhD Project on an archived version of the organization’s website have reversed course.
The universities include: Texas Tech University, the University of Houston, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Texas at Dallas, the University of Texas at El Paso, the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley, the University of Texas at San Antonio, and the University of North Texas.
UNT is nonetheless being investigated, though the university claimed it is no longer affiliated with The PhD Project.
On February 14, the DOE Office of Civil Rights issued a letter to higher education institutions ordering them to cease “using race preferences and stereotypes as a factor in their admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, sanctions, discipline, and other programs and activities.”
The investigation comes after Trump signed a January executive order banning illegal race-discriminatory practices in the federal government and encouraged the private sector to follow suit.
The University of North Texas did not respond to a request for comment.
Texas public universities are overseen by boards of regents, who are appointed by Gov. Abbott and confirmed by the Texas Senate.
No ads. No paywalls. No government grants. No corporate masters.
Just real news for real Texans.
Support Texas Scorecard to keep it that way!
