Scott Statement on Universities Capitulating to the Trump Administration’s Illegal Demands

As originally released by the Committee on Education and Workforce, Democrats

WASHINGTON - Ranking Member Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03), House Committee on Education and Workforce, released the following statement after the Department of Education announced 31 resolution agreements with institutions of higher education to cease their partnerships with The Ph.D. Project. The agreements reportedly also require the institutions to audit partnerships they have with other organizations that "restrict participation based on race."

"In 2025, roughly 24 percent of Business Ph.D. students were Black or Hispanic. At that same time, less than 8 percent of full-time faculty at Business schools were Black or Hispanic. Organizations, such as the Ph.D. Project, were independently established to encourage people from underrepresented communities to enroll in Business Ph.D. programs and support their academic achievements. Researchshows that faculty diversity plays an important role in student completion and can have a major impact on students' sense of belonging and retention rates.

"Black and Hispanic people are chronically underrepresented in academia. In the 2022-23 academic year, roughly 21 percent of Ph.D. graduates were Black or Hispanic, and in the fall of 2023, less than 9 percent of instructional staff at institutions of higher education were Black or Hispanic.

"The Department of Education has successfully bullied 31 universities into cutting ties with organizations that improve recruitment and outreach. They did so by relying on a warped interpretation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the Students for Fair Admissions Supreme Court decision that narrowly tailored the consideration of race in higher education. Specifically, the Supreme Court opinion did not bar, much less address, recruitment, outreach, or a plethora of other issues in higher education that the Department claims were implicated. Guidance documents championing this interpretation - which the Department originally cited to justify these investigations - have been struck down by federal courts.

"Regrettably, these universities have become complicit in the Department's illegitimate campaign to limit opportunities for underrepresented minorities. Reports suggest that some organizations that schools have quietly cut ties with do not even base participation in their programs on race.

"These resolution agreements, coupled with the chilling effect of the Students for Fair Admissions case, send the message to students from underrepresented communities that they are not welcome in academia."

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