The woke stranglehold on higher education is finally getting a reality check, as President Donald Trump’s Department of Education just launched a massive crackdown on race-based discrimination.
More than 50 universities—including leftist strongholds like Yale, Georgetown, and the University of Michigan—are now under federal investigation for allegedly excluding students based on race. The schools in question have been accused of everything from race-based scholarships to segregated graduate programs, all in direct violation of civil rights laws.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon isn’t playing games. In a fiery statement, she made it clear that colleges will not be allowed to pick and choose which civil rights laws they follow.
“The Department is working to reorient civil rights enforcement to ensure all students are protected from illegal discrimination,” McMahon announced. “Students must be assessed according to merit and accomplishment, not prejudged by the color of their skin. We will not yield on this commitment.”
Among the worst offenders is “The Ph.D. Project,” a program that partners with multiple universities to limit access to graduate programs exclusively by race. Schools like the University of Alabama and the University of South Florida are also being investigated for issuing scholarships and other benefits based solely on race.
As expected, leftist education groups are melting down. The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is already urging schools to ignore the Department of Education’s directive, while other organizations claim universities should risk losing federal funding rather than comply.
But this isn’t an empty threat. Columbia University already lost massive federal funding over its refusal to address antisemitic hate mobs on campus, and more than 60 other universities have been warned they could be next if they don’t clean up their act.
What’s worse, many elite schools are actively scheming to sidestep the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling that banned race-based admissions. Brown University and UCLA, for example, have boasted about their “diversity strategies”—which include racial gerrymandering tactics like targeted communications campaigns to rig their student demographics.
The days of woke universities playing identity politics with federal dollars are coming to an end. Trump and McMahon have drawn a line in the sand—and any school violating civil rights laws will soon feel the consequences.
