Multiple Colleges Cancel Affinity Graduations Amid Trump’s DEI Crackdown
For years, affinity graduations have been a tradition on college campuses across the country. Affinity graduations are optional, often student-organized ceremonies that allow graduates who share cultural, racial, or similar sexual orientations to celebrate their accomplishments and experiences during their educational journey. As a result of the Trump administration’s ongoing effort to be offended at anything that celebrates Black people, some colleges have pulled back from supporting affinity graduations this year.
According to CNN, Harvard was one of several universities that announced they would no longer provide financial support for these events, and that they can no longer happen on school campuses. This caught several student groups by surprise, as the planning and scheduling for affinity graduations often happen months in advance. Elyse Martin-Smith, a Black senior at Harvard, told CNN she was “disappointed, but not surprised.”
“This isn’t the first time the university has catered to PR (public relations) concerns rather than student concerns,” Martin-Smith said. Martin-Smith was a key organizer behind Harvard’s Black student graduation ceremony, and had to spend her last few weeks scrambling to find a new venue while also having to study for her finals.
Never doubt a Black woman’s ability to get it done in the face of white nonsense.
While Harvard has publicly pushed back against the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to censor higher education, the school is currently facing an investigation under the “False Claims Act” to ensure it’s complying with the Supreme Court’s ruling killing affirmative action in college admissions. Whether or not this move to withdraw support from affinity graduations is a result of that investigation is unclear.
Harvard wasn’t alone in cancelling their support for affinity graduations, with Kentucky University and Ohio University also pulling their ceremonies, citing the Department of Education(DOE)’s crackdown on anything it believes is DEI as the reason. In a somewhat bizarre move, Kentucky even canceled the affinity ceremonies intended for first-generation college students. I know Black people can make up a significant percentage of first-generation graduates, but that designation is as multicultural as they come.
The pullback on affinity graduations has been inconsistent, with some universities still moving forward with their support. The University of Nevada, Reno had multiple affinity graduations scheduled through May, and somehow California’s Fresno State, of all places really came through with the energy, with ceremonies celebrating Black, Latino, Asian American/Pacific Islander, and LGBTQ+ students. Given Fresno’s long history of anti-Black practices, I am more than a little shocked.
I guess I’ll consider coaching the Fresno State Bulldogs in my dynasty league on College Football 26 (emphasis on consider).
Where the schools have fallen back, outside institutions and individuals have stepped up to hold affinity graduation ceremonies for students affected by these changes. Martin-Smith eventually found a venue and received support from the Black Graduate Student Alliance and the Harvard Black Alumni Society. Aaron Thomas, a Black alumnus of Ohio University, was planning to foot the bill and hold the annual Black alumni barbecue on his own until the mayor’s office, local restaurants, and several nonprofits stepped up to help make it happen.
One persistent truth of being Black in America is that institutions are going to let us down more often than not. While the never-ending barrage of nonsense makes it increasingly hard to maintain an optimistic spirit these days, I do find it uplifting that no matter how hard they try, they can never fully stop us from celebrating ourselves.
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