UAS relatively unaffected by university-wide DEI directive and federal funding cuts

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Nearly two months have passed since the University of Alaska Board of Regents directed leadership to scrub mentions of diversity, equity and inclusion from websites and publications. The action was in response to federal threats to withhold funding from universities.

There have been some big changes across the University of Alaska system due to the Trump administration’s crackdown on DEI. Campuses in Fairbanks and Anchorage have experienced federal funding cuts, revoked student visas and office reorganizations for people serving Alaska Native students and other underrepresented communities.

But these things aren’t happening at the University of Alaska Southeast, which has three campuses in Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan. UAS Chancellor Aparna Palmer said at a recent virtual town hall that the campus’ own Native and Rural Students Center hasn’t changed.

“The Indigenous heritage of Alaska is so central to our identity as an institution,” she said. “At UAS, it is part of the fabric of who we are, so our commitment to that continues.”

Instead, UAS continues to review and scrub mentions of DEI on campus webpages.

One name change includes the Chancellorʼs Advisory Committee on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Cultural Safety. It’s now the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Belonging, Empowerment, Access, Representation and Safety.

UAS Executive Director for Community Relations & Strategic Partnerships Elizabeth Cornejo said in an email that staff have updated about half of the webpages as of Wednesday morning. She said they expect to update the rest by the end of the semester.

Once that’s done, she said they’ll start reviewing PDFs, catalogs and other documents. 

UA President Pat Pitney said in a press release more than $5 million in federal grants has been frozen or canceled. At UAS, a federal grant from the U.S Department of Agriculture was temporarily frozen, but Cornejo said that’s since been restored.

While the changes have been smaller at UAS compared to the other campuses, students like sophomore Poppy McBride said the decision to scrub mentions of DEI has been demoralizing.

“This is just ignoring great majorities of the students that attend our schools,” they said.

McBride said they appreciate the support from campus staff since the decision passed though.

“I am grateful for the leadership we do have at this school, trying their very best to support students throughout it all,” McBride said. “I think a great majority of our faculty is pushing to stay inclusive and to keep supporting students and to not ignore all the identities and people who will be pushed kind of under the rug by this move.”

In the meantime, McBride and other students are finding community through campus events and student clubs as the Trump Administration continues to investigate and threaten other universities across the country.