When President Donald Trump signed his January 2025 Executive Order banning Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), Americans cheered the “end” of the divisive, hateful ideology. Meanwhile, university administrators rolled their eyes, feigned compliance, and continued advancing their toxic agenda.

Fortunately, the U.S. Department of Justice just announced a Title VI investigation into one of the worst offenders: Arizona State University (ASU). The outcome could have ripple effects throughout the country.

This comes on the heels of Accuracy in Media (AIM) releasing hidden-camera videos from institutions across the country. Our team wanted to determine if the radicals running higher education were actually in compliance with the law. What we discovered was a shell game. DEI offices were renamed, DEI programs were rebranded, DEI job titles were changed, but the activism continued.

If I dropped names like the University of Alabama, NC State, the University of Texas, Louisville, and the University of Kentucky, you’d probably think I was offering a poor prediction of the preseason AP football poll. In fact, these are all universities where we’ve discovered taxpayer-funded DEI activism, often in defiance of state law.

Our investigation would start by examining whether staffers bragged about bending or breaking the law when speaking with someone they believed to be an ideological ally. Then a surprise visit with a cameraman revealed what they’d say when confronted with the reality of the situation.

The resulting videos went viral.

To the surprise of many, some of the worst footage came from ASU. On most campuses, one or two administrators brag about continuing DEI. But at ASU, seven were recorded engaging in such behavior. When more than a half-dozen highly paid staffers are caught, there’s no denying the entire orchard is rotten.

One administrator admitted, “We’re doing pretty much what we were doing before.” Another confessed, “… we are still doing the same thing,” and added, “It’s kind of embedded … this is who we are.” A third summed it up by saying, “We are DEI.” When someone tells you — and shows you — who they are, believe them.

An administrator from ASU’s education college says, “I know that the new legislation has asked us to eliminate it, but it’s in our hearts in education, so education has that just naturally.” This is consistent with what we hear in education colleges across the country. When Americans wonder why their child’s school is more focused on indoctrination than education, they need only look at the education colleges.

The same is true for colleges of social work and criminology. If you wonder why social workers sound more like activists, it’s because their colleges require them to be committed to social justice.

I wasn’t taken aback by these results, but I was shocked by the lack of response from ASU’s leadership. The individuals featured in our videos frequently find themselves out of work. A half dozen administrators in North Carolina lost their jobs after appearing in AIM videos recently, including the dean of students of UNC-Asheville.

In Texas, the results are similar. We investigate, and the offender is fired. I don’t think this is because the university cares about reform. It’s more likely that they’re afraid of Texas’s Attorney General Ken Paxton, who regularly investigates the universities we expose.

To be clear, we don’t view the firing of one individual as a victory. These staffers are usually replaced by someone just as radical but aware enough to keep their mouth shut. The reality is that senior administrators who hire and manage these people probably know that lawbreaking is occurring and support this behavior. Alternatively, these executives are so incompetent that they’re unqualified to work for the taxpayers. Either way, they don’t deserve a government paycheck.

The DOJ’s investigation into ASU’s DEI program comes on the heels of its investigation into Ohio State University. These actions are a massive step towards cleaning houses at America’s universities.

The Justice Department is examining whether ASU’s DEI policies affected admissions, recruitment, scholarships, tutoring, and educational support services. If investigators conclude that ASU’s DEI programs violate federal civil rights law, political activists masquerading as “educators” will likely begin job searching.

But to truly rid our universities of DEI, each state must enact a Florida-style DEI ban, which prohibits administrators and professors from promoting identity politics. Educators are still free to discuss controversial topics in the appropriate courses, but they can’t promote antiracism and social justice in math class.

Arizona State will soon discover that legal compliance isn’t optional. Other universities would be wise to take notice. My hope is that this DOJ investigation will set the precedent that their divisive politics will no longer be tolerated in taxpayer-funded institutions.

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Adam Guillette is the president of Accuracy in Media.

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