The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
John K. Wilson | 27 February 2025 | Inside Higher Ed
On Feb. 14, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights issued an extraordinary Dear Colleague letter ordering all colleges and schools, public and private, that receive federal funds to implement massive changes and repression of free speech within 14 days. As the letter repeatedly warned and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency posted, “Institutions which fail to comply may face a loss of federal funding.”
The Feb. 14 letter is a full-fledged attack on affirmative action and diversity, equity and inclusion. It is also one of the worst attacks on academic freedom by the government in the history of American higher education. This is a colossal federal onslaught designed to micromanage all colleges, public and private, and suppress speech on a massive scale using the threat of a total ban on federal funding…