“Everything got caught up in all of this political drama,” she said. “It’s extremely disappointing. I’ve been so busy this semester and just trying to regroup since learning about this. I haven’t figured out, you know, what I will be able to do to get that time back.”
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Preston is one of many HBCU scholars and students now grappling with the fallout from President Trump’s rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts across federal agencies. As his administration targets programs it deems “radical,” institutions that have long depended on federal support — particularly historically Black colleges and universities — are getting caught in the crossfire.
Since the start of the second Trump administration, several federal initiatives supporting HBCUs have been disrupted or revoked. On March 21, a $16.3 million National Institutes of Health grant awarded to Florida A&M University’s pharmacy school and its Research Centers in Minority Institutions program was abruptly canceled. According to The Hill, Trump stripped $65 million from Howard University Hospital’s federal funds. In February, the US Department of Agriculture briefly suspended the 1890 Scholars Program — an initiative supporting agricultural students at 19 HBCUs with full tuition coverage. Though the program was quietly reinstated four days later, no explanation was given for the pause.
That sense of instability echoes across HBCU campuses.
Megan Henry, a health science major at Tuskegee University, said she felt uneasy while applying for graduate school at Tennessee State University, also an HBCU. She had been counting on DEI-funded support to give her a full ride.
“It was a POTUS fellowship scholarship, so it would cover the cost and tuition, and that was something that drew me to those schools,” she said. “I felt like the security for those programs would not be safe.”
Trump often defends his record on HBCUs, pointing to a 2019 bill that secured $255 million in permanent annual funding. In a recent interview with NewsNation, he said, “I got them more money than they ever dreamt possible, and they’re in great shape now. They have long-term financing. Nobody did that but Donald Trump.”
He claims that “no one has done more for HBCUs” and that the schools “have nothing to worry about.”
However, recent actions tell a different story for many faculty members like Preston.
“If the interest in HBCUs were real,” she said, “programs like this would be protected.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
To many in the HBCU community, these decisions aren’t just financial — they’re deeply symbolic. Small pockets of funding can determine whether students access research opportunities, internships, or even stay enrolled in school.
Now, broader budget concerns are adding to the uncertainty. In January, the Congressional Budget Office projected a $2.7 billion shortfall in the Pell Grant program for the 2025 fiscal year. Without additional funding, students could face reduced eligibility or smaller grant awards.
The potential impact is especially alarming for HBCUs, where over 75 percent of students rely on Pell Grants to finance their education. These grants — providing up to $7,395 per year — often decide whether a student can attend college at all. Without them, many prospective students may be forced to walk away — not because they lack ambition, but because the cost has become too high.
Sydney Harris, a senior philosophy major at Spelman College, said the rollback of DEI efforts feels deeply personal.
“To see DEI stripped away is scary,” she said. “It makes it harder for people who already face barriers to even get an opportunity.” She credits DEI programs with helping fund her education and create pathways that may no longer exist for those who come after her.
Harris also said that finding a job is an even more challenging task.
Christopher Ridge, a senior political science major at Howard, expressed similar concerns. “The safety nets for jobs we thought would be there are disappearing,” he said. “It’s harder to imagine what our futures look like when the structures that once supported us are being dismantled.”
Still, even as students and faculty voice these concerns, the Trump administration maintains that it is strengthening its support for HBCUs.
On April 23, President Trump signed an executive order relocating the White House Initiative on HBCUs to the President’s Executive Office. The order promises increased funding, expanded private-sector partnerships, and new opportunities in high-demand fields like tech and health care.
In the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020, dozens of corporations pledged millions to fund DEI initiatives, including scholarships, mentorships, and recruitment pipelines for HBCU students. However, according to multiple HBCU administrators who asked not to be named, those promises have quietly faded.
Darius Jones, senior adviser to the National Black Empowerment Action Fund and former deputy national political director for Mike Bloomberg, predicts Trump will ultimately support HBCUs. Jones, who now works closely with the Trump administration on HBCU initiatives, emphasized his confidence in the administration’s plans.
“This executive order hopes to bring together leaders from across multiple sectors looking to make substantial change for Black Americans. If this board and their insights are backed by real resources and long-term commitment, it could help reverse decades of underinvestment in the institutions that have consistently produced Black excellence,” Jones said.
Jones, a Clark Atlanta University graduate, has a point. A 2023 report revealed a staggering $12 billion funding gap between land-grant HBCUs and their predominantly white counterparts in the same states.
As debates over equity continue, some left-leaning critics argue that eliminating DEI programs only deepens these disparities and signals a return to a more exclusionary past. But not everyone agrees. William A. Jacobson, a law professor at Cornell University and founder of the Equal Protection Project — a conservative group that challenges race-based policies in education and government — sees the rollback of DEI initiatives as a necessary correction to what he considers race-based preferences.
“There’s a difference between being discriminated against and no longer receiving a racial preference,” Jacobson said. “My issue with DEI is that it treats people as representatives of identity groups rather than as individuals. I believe everyone should be treated equally under the law, without regard to race or ethnicity — and DEI undermines that principle.”
Still, those closest to HBCUs say their legacy of resilience is stronger than any policy shift.
HBCUs produce nearly 40 percent of all Black engineers, 50 percent of all Black teachers, 70 percent of Black doctors and dentists, and 80 percent of Black judges, despite making up just 3 percent of colleges and universities nationwide. That outsized impact, Preston says, is evidence of staying power.
“I think that we’ve done it before, and we will do it again,” Preston said. “HBCUs are not new. It’s not like HBCUs just started yesterday. We are tried and true. We’re battle-tested.”