In a memo Friday, the Education Department gave an ultimatum to stop using “racial preferences” as a factor in admissions, financial aid, hiring or other areas. Schools are being given 14 days to end any practice that treats students or workers differently because of their race.
The sweeping demand could upend education in myriad ways. The memo targets college admissions offices, ordering an end to personal essays or writing prompts that can be used to predict an applicant’s race. It forbids dorms or graduation events for students of certain races. Efforts to recruit teachers from underrepresented groups could be seen as discrimination.
It’s meant to correct what the memo described as rampant discrimination in education, often against white and Asian students.
The Department of Education is under the executive branch and holds control over policy and guidance. As a permanent change, it takes about 90 days to go through the official "We want to change eligibility policy" process, but until then, a presidential memo can serve as a directive to the department.