Feds to Virginia schools: End race-based policies or risk losing funds

Virginiacollegesanduniversitiesareonnotice:theU.S.DepartmentofEducation’sOfficeforCivilRights(OCR)haswarnedthatinstitutionsfailingtoeliminaterace-baseddecision-makingcouldlosefederalfunding. Thesupplemental guidance,releasedFriday,follows thefederalgovernment’sdirectiveforschoolstostopconsideringraceinadmissionsandotherpolicies. ItclarifieshowtheSupremeCourt’sStudentsforFairAdmissions,Inc.v.President&FellowsofHarvardCollegerulingappliesto‘racialclassifications,racialpreferences,andracialstereotypes,’andhowOCRwillenforceTitleVIoftheCivilRightsActof1964. TheSupremeCourt’sdecisioninJune2023effectivelyendedaffirmativeactioninhighereducation,strikingdownrace-consciousadmissionspoliciesatHarvardUniversityandtheUniversityofNorthCarolina.Inresponse,Virginiaschoolshaverevisedtheiradmissionspoliciestocomplywiththeruling. UnderPresidentDonaldTrump’sadministration,thelatestdirectivefromOCRalignswithbroadereffo