On March 13, 2025, Elizabethtown College’s Student Assembly held an informational session. They addressed concerns the campus community might have about the impact of executive orders and the “Dear Colleague” letter the college received on Feb. 14 regarding Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the changes that had to happen within two weeks. The “Dear Colleague” letter was from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights informing institutions of their nondiscrimination policies.
To begin the session, Civil Rights & Title IX Coordinator Gabrielle Reed went over Title IX and current procedures according to the 2020 regulations. Since the institution never put into place the 2024 regulations, nothing about Title IX has changed for Etown students. Still, the 2020 regulations reflect the current administration and have led to less protection based on gender and for parenting individuals, specific limitations to who a perpetrator or victim can be and require a written formal complaint and a live hearing.
Reed then highlighted that students can still rely on Pennsylvania protections like the Pa. Human Relation Act and the Pa. Fair Educational Opportunity Act. Additionally, the college has bias policies to again address the current gaps in Tile IX.
“Our office remains committed to supporting students by providing resources and a fair process for everyone,” Reed said at the meeting.
While President Donald Trump’s executive orders have created a lot of changes in the wider world, Etown’s Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students Nichole Gonzalez and Interim Senior Advisor to the Office of the President for Diversity, Equity & Belonging Javita Thompson wanted to clarify what would have to change at the institutional level. The current understanding of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act states the institutions must ensure that “no person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”
Although the institution could choose to ignore this letter, that would cause students to lose access to Pell Grant funds and federal financial aid as a whole, which would impact more than 400 students on campus and those in the incoming class. Therefore, in making adjustments, they must consider the risks and benefits of each of the existing systems.
Going forward, the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) plans to review their financial aid and endowed scholarships, management and recruitment in admissions, diversity, equity, and inclusion programing, academic curriculum, Human Resources (HR) policies, and hiring contracts and current marketing materials.
Additionally, Gonzalez emphasized that the college would be leaning into their values of peace, nonviolence, human dignity and social justice.
“Regardless of where we fall, we have people impacted by what’s going on,” Gonzalez said. “We plan to support students regardless of identity.”
Even with that in mind, certain alterations will have to happen in order to stay in compliance. Although the college does not actively discriminate against anyone based on their race, color or national origin, this impacts programs like Ubuntu, which originally brought mentorship and advising to only Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) students.
Director of Student Opportunity, Access and Engagement Darcy Mills then discussed adjustments to the Ubuntu program. Rather than Ubuntu supporting first-year BIPOC students, the Ubuntu program will now have focus areas. These focus areas include cultural and religious diversity, LGBTQ+ inclusion, neurodivergent and ability differences, and socioeconomic barriers. This adjustment not only complies with current regulations but acts as a way to open up the program and make it more inclusive to a wider range of students.
Following Mills’ announcement, senior economics and political science major Gabriel Karl and assistant professor of political science Nathan Gibson went over both what an executive order and “Dear Colleague” letter entails. An executive order, as compared to a law, does not have to go through the legislative process and is relatively easy to both enact and undo. Then, a “Dear Colleague” letter often communicates what must happen moving forward and what they suggest should happen. For example, while the “Dear Colleague” letter sent to institutions regarding Title IV saw “first-generation” students as a proxy for race, Etown has decided to not change their first-generation scholarships and support.
There are other areas that will not change at Etown.Gonzalez said none of the identity-based clubs would have to disband or alter their ideals and residence life and public areas on campus would not have to alter gender-inclusive housing and bathrooms.
Overall, as the institution and the wider world shifts as a result of the new administration, students may have a variety of fears. With that in mind, Etown intends to keep the campus community informed and supported. As the executive orders come out, Gonzalez reassured that the SLT will meet to discuss, seek out legal counsel and communicate with the wider community to address.
