GW Weekly Federal Update (May 1)

GW Update

• To date, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has restored Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) status to the small number of impacted GW international students. We will continue to monitor the SEVIS status of our international students as well as further Administration developments. Students with questions should reach out to the GW International Services Office for continued guidance and resources.

Recent Federal Actions

• On April 29, the House Committee on Education and Workforce marked up its reconciliation legislation. If the bill was enacted as written, it would end Graduate PLUS loans, restrict Parent PLUS loans, and institute risk-sharing policies that would require that all colleges and universities assume responsibility for paying back unpaid student interest and principal on certain federal student loans to the federal government. Higher education coalitions wrote to the chair of the committee united in opposition to the legislation. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions has not yet released the text of its reconciliation legislation, but must meet a far more modest target for expected deficit reductions.
   
• On April 28, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Protecting American Communities From Criminal Aliens” and accompanying “Fact Sheet.”  The EO, among other things, directs the Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security to publish a list of states and local jurisdictions “obstructing federal immigration law enforcement”—so called “sanctuary jurisdictions”—and inform them that they may lose federal funding unless they comply with federal law. The EO also directs them to “develop mechanisms for proper eligibility verification in sanctuary jurisdictions to prevent illegal aliens from receiving federal public benefits.”
   
• On April 28, the Department of Education announced that it found the University of Pennsylvania to have violated Title IX “by denying women equal opportunities by permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities.” ED has informed Penn that it will refer the matter to the Justice Department for enforcement proceedings unless Penn agrees to (i) issue a statement to the University community stating that the University will comply with Title IX in all of its athletic programs; (ii) restore to all female athletes all individual athletic records, titles, honors, awards or similar recognition for Division I swimming competitions misappropriated by male athletes competing in female categories; and (iii) send a letter to each female athlete whose individual recognition is restored expressing an apology on behalf of the University for allowing her educational experience in athletics to be marred by sex discrimination.  
   
• On April 24, the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration filed suit in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s mass termination of SEVIS records, alleging that the agency’s actions violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Thereafter, as stated in the “GW Update” above, the Administration reinstated the SEVIS status of impacted students, pending the development of a “policy framework for terminating SEVIS records.”  Media reports indicate that ICE has issued an internal memo that provides guidance to when SEVIS records may be terminated, and includes a statement that the State Department “may at any time, in its discretion, revoke an alien’s visa.” 
   
• In the April 24 GW Weekly Federal Update, we reported that the National Science Foundation (NSF) issued a statement emphasizing that in reviewing projects for funding, it will not “preference some groups at the expense of others, or directly/indirectly exclude individuals or groups,” and that it will terminate “awards that are not aligned with NSF’s priorities … including but not limited to those on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and misinformation/disinformation.”  According to media reports, the NSF has terminated 1,100 grants since April 29.
   
• On April 28, the Justice Department (DOJ) sent a letter to the President and Rector of the University of Virginia (UVA) requesting them to provide proof that UVA carried out UVA Board of Visitors’ resolution regarding the dissolution and dismantling of DEI at the university. This letter came after the DOJ received complaints that the university “may have failed to” dissolve DEI at UVA and report to the Board of Visitors within 30 days, confirming the “total elimination of DEI.”
   
• On April 28, Harvard announced that it has renamed its Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging to “Community and Campus Life,” and Harvard’s chief diversity officer will now be the university’s “Chief Community and Campus Life” officer. 
   
• On April 28, the Trump Administration announced the initiation of another investigation into Harvard University, this one focusing on the Harvard Law Review. The investigation is based on information the Administration “received about policies and practices for journal membership and article selection that may violate Title VI.”
   
• On April 25, the Department of Education announced it was launching an investigation into the University of California, Berkeley regarding its foreign funding disclosures. The investigation is similar to the investigation ED is conducting against Harvard, as reported in the April 24 edition of the GW Weekly Federal Update.
   
• On April 24, federal district courts in Maryland and New Hampshire issued separate orders temporarily blocking enforcement of the February 14 “Dear Colleague Letter” (DCL) and related February 28 “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQs) document issued by the Department of Education containing its views of the legality of various DEI programs in light of the Supreme Court’s 2023 Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (SFFA) decision on affirmative action in university admissions. Only the Maryland court’s decision applies nationally. The Maryland court confirmed, however, that staying—or postponing the effective date of the DCL—“has no impact on the government’s ability to enforce Title VI consistent with long-standing principles and the dictates of SFFA.” In other words, the ruling blocks enforcement of the DCL and FAQs to the extent that they represent a change from pre-existing law.

Resources and Reminders

About this Newsletter

To ensure that students, faculty and staff feel supported and informed about how federal developments affect higher education and GW, the university launched a weekly Federal Update. This newsletter shares timely information, addresses questions and provides resources.