DEI in the U.S., Then and Now: What Changed in a Year—and What Hasn’t
In November 2024, DEI in the United States already felt tense. The conversation had shifted from curiosity to caution, and organizations were quietly stepping back from public commitments. But a year later, the landscape hasn’t just shifted—it’s been rewritten.
Federal agencies have new marching orders. States have passed a wave of laws restricting DEI. Colleges are dismantling offices that supported students for decades. And in corporate America, companies that once spotlighted DEI now tiptoe around the acronym or avoid it altogether.
But here’s what none of that changes:
The lived reality of bias and exclusion
The gaps in opportunity and outcomes
The way people experience power, belonging, and safety at work or on campus
The rules changed.
The language changed.
The need didn’t.
This piece looks at the state of DEI in November 2024 versus November 2025—and what those shifts mean for real people, real workplaces, and the future of equity in this country.
State of DEI in Late 2024: Under Pressure but Still Visible
By late 2024, DEI was already sitting on unstable ground.
The Supreme Court’s 2023 affirmative action decision had sent ripples through higher education. A number of states were proposing or passing bills limiting DEI in public institutions. Corporate DEI programs were facing lawsuits and political scrutiny, especially those tied to scholarships or career pathways for underrepresented groups.
Even so, DEI had not disappeared:
Companies were still publishing diversity data
Universities still had DEI offices and cultural centers
Many organizations still had DEI leaders, even if some roles had been folded into HR or restructured
The mood in November 2024 was clear:
We feel the pressure. We don’t know what’s coming next.
2025: When the DEI Backlash Becomes Policy
In 2025, the landscape didn’t simply drift—it hardened.
Federal executive orders, state-level anti-DEI legislation, and major changes in corporate reporting created a dramatically different environment for DEI work.
Federal Executive Orders and DEI Rollbacks
In January 2025, the federal government issued a major executive order directing agencies to end DEI programs, preferences, and trainings. This triggered:
Removal of DEI guidance from agency websites
Cancellation of DEI-related trainings and programs
Renaming or closure of diversity offices within agencies
Reduced focus on DEI for federal contractors
Legal challenges quickly followed, and at least one judge temporarily blocked parts of the DEI purge. But the chilling effect spread quickly across agencies and contractors.
Anti-DEI State Laws and the Impact on Higher Education
States intensified their rollbacks.
By mid-2025:
More than two dozen states had passed laws restricting DEI in higher education
Roughly 20+ states enacted new laws in 2025 alone
Dozens of public colleges shut down or restructured DEI offices
Cultural centers—often considered student “lifelines”—closed at universities in states like Ohio, Utah, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, and West Virginia
Some states, like Mississippi, saw laws passed and then temporarily blocked in court. But the message to institutions remained the same:
Visible DEI efforts now carry political and financial risk.
Universities as Testing Grounds
Higher education became the clearest example of DEI rollback:
Some flagship public universities closed DEI offices and reassigned staff
Others rebranded DEI roles as “Student Success” or “Campus Culture”
Faculty reported self-censorship in teaching content related to race and gender
Students described losing access to mentors, programs, and spaces they relied on
The structure changed. The signage changed. The funding changed.
But the needs did not.
Corporate DEI Retreat: Fewer Mentions, Fewer Metrics
Corporate America has also pulled back—especially publicly.
A 2025 review of major companies found:
Mentions of “DEI” in corporate filings dropped by 68%
Nearly 1 in 5 companies reduced or removed DEI-related metrics
Mentions of “DEI” in S&P 500 10-K filings averaged about 4 times in 2024, down from 12.5 times in 2022
Companies halved the number of DEI metrics tied to executive compensation
Many organizations didn’t end the work—just the visibility:
“DEI” became “culture”
“Equity” became “fairness” or “merit”
“Inclusion” became “belonging”
Some programs were absorbed into broader HR or talent roles
For employees, this often feels like:
We still work on it, but we don’t want to talk about it.
What Hasn’t Changed: Inequity Beneath the Backlash
Despite political and corporate retreat, inequity hasn’t disappeared.
Campuses Are More Diverse — Support Is Not
Public colleges have grown more diverse, with students of color making up large shares of enrollment—especially in community colleges. These are the same institutions hit hardest by anti-DEI laws.
Removing DEI offices or cultural centers doesn’t affect all students equally. It affects:
First-generation students
Black and Brown students
LGBTQ+ students
Disabled students
Students who relied on those spaces for stability, community, and support
Economic Gaps Remain
Research continues to show persistent racial and gender gaps in:
Leadership representation
Pay
Promotion and advancement
Access to high-growth careers
Closing these gaps would add trillions to lifetime earnings across the workforce. The business case hasn’t weakened—only the willingness to say DEI aloud.
People Still Care About Inclusion
Polls show Americans remain supportive of diverse workplaces, even if views of DEI programs are politically polarized. Many people support inclusion but dislike the acronym.
Again:
The inequities remain. What changed is how comfortable institutions feel naming them.
Relational DEI: Why Relationships Matter When Programs Disappear
Relational DEI focuses on the day-to-day realities:
Who gets believed
Who gets promoted
Who receives sponsorship
Who feels safe speaking up
Who has access to opportunity
When formal DEI programs shrink, relational DEI becomes even more important.
What Relational DEI Looks Like Now
You may see:
Managers quietly advocating for marginalized employees even without a formal DEI structure
Professors or staff informally supporting students after DEI offices close
Employees noticing patterns of exclusion even when the company avoids DEI language
Relational DEI is about trust, safety, access, fairness—and these don’t disappear when a program does.
Questions to Ask in Your Own Organization
Who is more afraid to speak up now than they were a year ago?
Whose stories are no longer being collected?
If DEI metrics were removed from reporting, what replaced them?
Are leaders still doing the relational work of noticing, listening, and acting fairly?
Relational DEI isn’t a department. It’s how people treat each other.
Where DEI Goes From Here
DEI has taken serious hits on paper:
Federal rollbacks.
State laws.
Corporate silence.
But the core questions of equity remain:
Who has access to opportunity?
Whose voice carries weight?
Who absorbs harm in silence?
If your organization stepped back from DEI, pay attention to what happens next in the relationships around you. Look at who is losing support, who is losing voice, and who is being asked to “adjust” the most.
DEI is not just a program that can be turned off—it’s a set of commitments about fairness, dignity, and belonging.
If you have influence in your workplace or community, here’s one small step:
Ask one person privately:
“How safe do you feel to speak up here?”
And then listen without defensiveness.
In a climate where DEI is shrinking publicly, the relational commitment to equity matters more than ever.
Learn More
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Sources
Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferences (Executive Order 14151), White House, 2025
A Roadmap to Trump’s DEI Executive Orders for US Employers, Baker McKenzie, 2025
Federal agencies begin removing DEI guidance, AP News, 2025
US judge temporarily blocks Trump’s anti-DEI purge, The Guardian, 2025
DEI Ban & Restrictions Tracker, Council on Social Work Education
Anti-DEI Legislation May Impact Higher Education, BestColleges, 2025
Updating anti-DEI law data, CollegeIQ, 2025
Mississippi Legislature approves DEI ban, Mississippi Today, 2025
Mississippi judge pauses DEI ban, AP News, 2025
Anti-DEI laws have passed at a furious pace, Chronicle of Higher Education, 2025
DEI Legislation Tracker, Chronicle of Higher Education
Tracking Higher Ed’s Dismantling of DEI, Chronicle of Higher Education
University of Michigan shuts DEI office, Reuters, 2025
Anti-DEI efforts shutter cultural centers, Washington Post, 2025
Corporate Diversity Disclosure Trends, The Conference Board, 2025
DEI in Transition, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance
Major companies reframing DEI, ESG Dive, 2025
“DEI” vanishing from corporate filings, Washington Post, 2025
Racial/Ethnic Enrollment Data, NCES
College Enrollment Statistics, EducationData.org
Learning and Earning by Degrees, Georgetown CEW
Report: Racial, gender gaps persist, Georgetown CEW
Fewer Americans See Diversity as a Business Priority, Gallup, 2025
Fewer Americans see diversity as a business priority, HR Dive, 2025
Americans divided over DEI programs, AP-NORC Poll, 2025
