LDF Condemns Trump Administration’s Attempts to Radically Reshape American Education and Weaken Federal Anti-Discrimination Laws

Read a PDF of our statement here.

On April 23, 2025, the White House issued a series of executive orders aimed at school accreditation, protections against discriminatory policies, and fair school discipline practices. These orders will make it harder for accreditors to ensure that colleges provide quality outcomes for all students, make it easier for schools to subject students to discriminatory disciplinary policies, and make it easier for employers, schools, lenders, landlords, and others to discriminate.

Janai Nelson, President and Director-Counsel of the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), released the following statement in response:

"Once again, the White House has continued its flagrant crusade against efforts that advance equal opportunity and protect people from discrimination. There is no question that the recent executive orders signed by President Trump are incredibly dangerous for Black people and other communities of color, women, and many other groups.

"This is yet another attempt to completely dismantle our civil rights infrastructure and entrench persistent racial inequality in this country. We know these are the ultimate goals of this administration, as made evident through Project 2025. The continued and intentional disregard for the historical and current realities of racial discrimination risks reshaping American institutions in ways that will harm many communities for generations.

"We fully condemn these orders and will continue working to defend our multi-racial democracy, keep students safe, and ensure we are remedying discrimination everywhere it exists.

"LDF has mounted several legal challenges to other unlawful executive orders from the Trump Administration and is carefully reviewing these orders in anticipation of legal challenges to the dire implications they present."

Of the executive orders signed by the president yesterday, LDF specifically condemns the following:

• "Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education," which strong-arms accreditors and the institutions of higher education they oversee to abandon legal practices that help foster racially-inclusive campuses and improve outcomes for all students on campus.
• "Reinstating Common Sense School Discipline Policies," which calls on the Department of Education and the Department of Justice to issue new guidance on school discipline based on false claims made in the executive order that ignore research showing that Black students are disciplined more frequently and harshly than their white peers.
• "Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy," which seeks to upend longstanding civil rights law enforcement and principles at the heart of ensuring Black people and other marginalized communities have equal opportunities across every facet of life in the United States.

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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation's first civil rights law organization. LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957-although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights.