On January 20th, President Donald Trump began his second term with advocacy for the nationwide removal of DEI—Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The order proclaims that any enforcement of DEI violates gender and discriminatory equity ideology—where individuals are treated as members of specific groups, rather than as separate individuals. Trump believes this minimizes agency, merit and capability in favor of generalizations. The order includes eliminating federal funding or support for any kinds of DEI related treatment in K-12 curriculums, instructions, programs and activities.
This has raised many questions surrounding how education, representation and core values in schools across the country will be affected by the implementation of these orders.
With Evanston being known for its progressive, diverse beliefs and expectations, concerns arose between the staff and students regarding whether ETHS will choose to comply with the removal.
“Those executive orders would require the school to be something that we’ve never been and that we’ve never wanted to be,” says Superintendent Marcus Campbell. He proclaims that ETHS will not be following the removal of DEI, despite the risk of losing federal funding as a result.
“I think everything is going to be tied up in litigation for a while. They’re sending very threatening letters to districts, schools, colleges, universities, you name it; ‘You must comply within 30 days,’” says Campbell. “[But] if we were to follow those executive orders, we wouldn’t be complying with the state.”
When one of the most notable points of concern was the potential loss of the student-led summits, Campbell reassures that the summits and other DEI-driven programs will remain unchanged—and his decisions have been supported by both the staff and student body at large. Senior Nyel Rollins can attest to the importance of protecting and reinforcing the mission that has directed summits for the past ten years.
“Each year, I get a new perspective on the summits and why they’re so important,” says Rollins. “Having those two days, and being a part of creating those two days, gives many of the students at ETHS something to look forward to. Summits create the feeling for all of these students that they can feel at home at ETHS.
[So they know] they have many adults and other students who are different and alike to them, who they can connect to.”
The staff at ETHS also recognize and affirm the impact summits have had on students and the community. ETHS Equity Analyst Lauren Hamilton says that the summits, specifically the Black Student summits, began a decade ago as a response to challenges that black students were facing—making their influence even more crucial now, when the challenge the summits were designed to address is emerging once more.
“I see [the summits] really as a gift from the community, for the community,” says Hamilton. “This sort of homegrown response to student experience is something that makes the school beautiful, and is really important in the development of agency, empowerment and healthy identity.
“Given that they all have their own student committees, it is really an exercise in cultivating youth leadership, working with young people and practicing creating the kind of spaces that we want to see more broadly across the school and in our communities,” Hamilton adds. “The summit offers a look into our worlds as we would like them to be.”
ETHS teacher Kamasi Hill shares that to have affinity spaces at all levels, within summits and beyond, are an imperative aspect of cultivating community and creating an environment where students can connect through their identities.
“When you are a student of color, particularly in this instance, a Black student, there are some unique experiences that you have, and there are some unique policies that will primarily affect you,” says Hill. “So to say, hey, we’re coming together to talk and discuss issues that affect us, I think it’s not only important, it’s absolutely necessary.”
While the DEI programs at ETHS remain protected for the time being, the same cannot be said for other districts in the surrounding areas, much less nationally.
“No other school has said anything,” says Campbell. “They’ve sent information about not complying with ICE agents, but philosophically, about how to value student identity and all of that, no one has said anything but me.”
It is acknowledged that Evanston is a community privileged in wealth and resources. The loss of federal funding doesn’t pose as great a risk to the loss of student access and success for ETHS as opposed to other schools. While the 202 district is in a position to be able to resist the orders, other districts in Illinois alone may not have the opportunity to reject the removals.
But the liabilities go beyond losing funding—the removal of DEI would result in the loss of representation, information and more, says junior Oluwaseun Odufuwa.
“Another risk would be a lack of awareness around the nation,” Odufuwa says. “Because if we don’t have teachings on the different diversities between people, there will be a lack of awareness on what these different communities go through—the challenges, and the histories behind these communities all around the world.”
While the state of DEI removal at a national level is a cause for concern, Campbell remains unwavering about the future of the ETHS curriculums—the programs that surround DEI, and the summits that have become vital to the ETHS community, are not going anywhere.
“This is what we’re doing, and we’re not going to change,” he says. “We’re not changing.”
