The Trump administration’s objection to a program that helps people of color pursue doctorate degrees has prompted colleges to cut ties with a range of organizations associated with racial minority groups, a Post investigation has found.
Since last year, more than 100 schools have ended partnerships with the PhD Project, a group founded in 1994 to diversify the pipeline of students who aspire to become business school professors. That came after the U.S. Department of Education last March announced probes into 45 universities that partnered with the group.
More than a dozen of those schools have quietly reached agreements with the administration to resolve the investigations. As part of the pacts, the universities promised to identify partnerships with any organization that may “restrict participation based on race” and either sever those relationships or explain why they won’t, according to documents obtained by The Post.
The California State University system, for instance, told the federal government that one of its campuses plans to cut ties with the Links Inc., a national volunteer service group historically composed of Black women.
Clemson University said it ended its relationship with Field Inclusive, a group that supports biologists and researchers from marginalized groups, because it offers discounted memberships to people of color.
And the University of Kentucky said it flagged 1,200 memberships or partnerships for “cancellation or deeper review” because the groups might restrict participation based on race.
“It’s terrible,” said Wil Del Pilar, senior vice president with Education Trust, an advocacy group focused on gaps in education for low-income and minority students.
Groups like the PhD Project and others help provide a pathway into universities and “create a sense of belonging” for groups that have historically been left out, Del Pilar said.
“There is no evidence that students from other racial or ethnic backgrounds lose access or opportunity,” he said.
Some conservative advocates praised the Trump administration for pushing schools to stop supporting groups that they say discriminate against White people and other racial groups.
“Programs that target specific racial demographics are intended to exclude others,” said Nicole Neily, president of Defending Education, an organization that has filed several civil rights complaints against schools for offering scholarships for students of color.
The Education Department investigated the PhD Project — which has helped 1,800 Black, Latino or Native American scholars earn doctorates in business over more than three decades — because the agency said the group limited participation at a past conference to students who identify as Black/African American, Latino/Hispanic, or Native American/Canadian Indigenous.
The project said it has since opened its conference to students of any race interested in business doctoral programs.
But after signing settlement agreements with the Trump administration, colleges have since flagged additional groups.
For instance, the state university system overseeing California State Polytechnic University in Pomona pledged to end the school’s relationship with the Links after concluding the group appears to restrict participation based on race, according to records obtained through a public records request.
The nonprofit service group says on its website that its membership consists of more than 17,000 professional women of African descent and is committed to supporting “the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other people of African ancestry.”
“As a student-centered university, Cal Poly Pomona remains committed to ensuring all programs and partnerships comply fully with applicable federal and state nondiscrimination laws,” university spokesperson Cynthia Peters said in a statement.
But the Links insists it doesn’t discriminate and said it first learned of the allegation from The Post.
“A claim such as this is a serious mischaracterization of who we are as volunteer-leaders and what we stand for,” Ethel Isaacs Williams, national president of the Links, said in a statement. She said the group contributes more than 1 million service hours a year to underserved communities around the world, without regard to race. “It is deeply disappointing, not only to our members, but also to the communities we are privileged to serve.”
The Links said its members volunteered to mentor a diverse group of Cal Poly Pomona students. The sessions were open to all students and the organization’s membership is open to people of any race, the Links said. The partnership began in 2017 and the last event was held in January 2025, according to the university.
Clemson told the Education Department it ended its partnership with Field Inclusive “out of an abundance of caution” because the nonprofit discounted memberships for racial and ethnic minorities. Field Inclusive, which says it tries to promote more inclusivity in the natural sciences and outdoors, could not be reached for comment, but lists the discount on its website.
Separately, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs flagged its membership in the Colorado Springs Black Chamber of Commerce, saying it initially wasn’t sure whether the group tried to help all businesses, or just Black companies. The chamber assured the school in writing that it supports businesses of “all types,” and the university has maintained its affiliation.
It’s not yet clear how many other partnerships could be impacted by the agreements to end the investigations into the PhD Project. Some universities said they are still in negotiations with the Education Department to resolve the investigations, continuing to examine their partnerships or declined to answer questions about the settlements.
More than a dozen of the 45 schools investigated for their work with the PhD Project are private, such as Rice University and the University of Notre Dame, which are exempt from public records laws. And some public universities have fought to keep the records secret. The University of North Texas system, for instance, has asked the Texas attorney general for a ruling allowing it to withhold the resolution agreement and follow-up report to the federal government, even though settlement agreements with government agencies are normally public record in the state.
The Education Department did not respond to requests to say how many settlements it has reached so far or comment on the resolutions.
When the investigations began last year, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement: “The Department is working to reorient civil rights enforcement to ensure all students are protected from illegal discrimination.”
Some critics, however, contend the administration’s civil rights department has mostly ignored complaints of racism involving Black and Hispanic victims, while targeting efforts to help minorities.
“The job of the Office for Civil Rights is to protect all people,” said Catherine Lhamon, who served as assistant secretary of education for civil rights during the Biden administration and now works at UC Berkeley Law School. “This administration is picking and choosing who it will protect.”
The settlements The Post identified involving the PhD Project generally do not include any fines or monetary penalties. Lhamon said that is typical for settlements from the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, because it does not have statutory authority to impose fines.
These agreements are different from some of the broader settlements the Trump administration pursued against Brown University, Columbia University and other elite universities after threatening to cut off their research funding over cultural issues such as alleged antisemitism, diversity, equity and inclusion programs and transgender athletes. (Cornell University said the government agreed to close all its investigations into the school — including the one involving the PhD Project — as part of its broader $60 million settlement with the Trump administration.)
Other universities that reached settlements with the Trump administration over the PhD Project investigations include Boise State University, Montana State University, Towson University, University of Arkansas, University of Cincinnati, University of Michigan, University of Nebraska at Omaha, University of New Mexico, University of North Dakota, University of Utah, University of Wyoming and two other campuses included in the California State University covered pact, Cal State San Bernardino and Cal Poly Humboldt.
Most of the agreements have not previously been reported.
Perhaps no organization has been hit harder by the investigations than the PhD Project.
The president of the PhD Project, Alfonzo Alexander, said most of its more than 200 college partners cut their ties after the Trump administration announced its investigations last year. That has crimped the organization’s budget, because it relied on colleges for one-third of its funding.
But Alexander said the group plans to go ahead with its annual conference in Chicago next month, where it plans to encourage students considering a doctorate in business. He also said the organization believes it can continue to help students find doctoral programs and jobs at business schools through its extensive alumni network, even with fewer college partnerships.
“We see paths forward where we can still make a significant impact in this country and the world,” Alexander said.
Jason Thatcher said the PhD Project helped him when he was a doctoral student at Florida State University. He was feeling isolated as he worked long hours alone on his dissertation.
“I was really struggling,” Thatcher said. “It gave me a community.”
Thatcher, who identifies as multicultural with Mexican, Samoan and European ancestors, finished his doctorate and is now a professor of information systems at the business school at the University of Colorado’s main campus in Boulder.
“I hope that the PhD Project and other organizations like it will be afforded the opportunity to support other people like me,” he said. “My hope is that universities and the PhD Project will find new ways to partner and support students.”
The post Colleges quietly cut ties with organizations that help people of color appeared first on Washington Post.
