Steps Universities Should Take Following Trump’s DEI Executive Order

What You Need to Know

• When: On January 20 2025, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing and Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions”.
• Who it Affects: This order mandates that federal agencies eliminate all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies across the federal government. As a result, Federal agencies —  especially Universities across the country — are now racing to comply with its sweeping requirements.
• What the Requirements are:
  • In line with the order’s goal of eliminating all federal DEI initiatives, federal agencies have 60 days to terminate all:
    • (1) DEI-related offices and positions,
    • (2) equity-related action plans, actions, initiatives, programs, grants, or contracts, and
    • (3) DEI-related performance requirements for employees, contractors, or grantees.
  • Additionally, within 60 days of the order, each agency must provide the OMB director with lists of, among other things, (1) federal contractors who provide DEI training or DEI training materials to federal agency or department employees (i.e., training vendors hired by government agencies to conduct DEI trainings), and (2) all federal grantees who received federal funding to provide or advance DEI or environmental justice programs.

How this Affects Universities Around the Country

For universities with contracts with federal agencies, such as NASA, Department of Defense (DoD), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), or Food and Drug Administration (FDA), that means:

• Reviewing contracts for any DEI-related terms or conditions
• Identifying training programs for deliverables that involve DEI Initiatives
• Preparing for potential audits or compliance reviews

Given the scale and complexity of contracts, and the 60 day mandate, a manual review may be unfeasible. This is where Robin AI Reports becomes indispensable.

How Robin AI Powers Universities to Achieve Accurate Compliance:

In order to meet the 60 day deadline, universities around the country are turning to Robin AI Reports, allowing them to:

• Review Contracts at Scale: Analyze hundreds of contracts in minutes to identify DEI-related language or clauses.
• Ensure Compliance Quickly: Generate detailed reports pinpointing relevant terms, enabling fast remediation.
• Mitigate Risk: Avoid penalties by ensuring timely and accurate compliance.

At a large California-based university, Robin AI Reports is being leveraged to review over 100+ NASA contracts for DEI language. This rapid analysis ensures compliance while reducing the burden on their legal team. Universities and public institutions across the U.S. are adopting similar strategies to navigate this challenge efficiently, turning to Legal AI solutions to achieve this.