Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is warning major universities across her state to scrap DEI programs or risk their taxpayer-funded federal support.
Blackburn sent letters on Wednesday to the heads of Belmont University, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and Vanderbilt University expressing “concern” over reports that the universities are hiding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs behind sanitized language. The warning comes after a series of undercover videos show employees at the universities discussing how they will push the liberal orthodoxy despite orders by the Trump administration to halt them.
The letters are largely similar, though each reflects details of the situations specific to the universities. The senator sent the letters after officials at each university were caught on camera admitting to certain tactics and ploys each institution has adopted to avoid scrutiny of their DEI programs.
“Renaming woke DEI programs to circumvent compliance and public scrutiny degrades the educational experience of your students and the trust placed in institutions of higher education,” reads a similar section posted in each letter.
“As a beneficiary of federal funding,” writes Blackburn, the university “has a responsibility to align with the President’s executive order and return to a focus on providing quality education to your students.”
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In the past week, controversy has erupted around each of the universities after hidden camera recordings caught employees admitting that at their respective institutions, university leadership has hidden DEI programs behind more benign language.
At the University of Tennessee, for instance, the university&#8217;s DEI initiatives have been wrapped under the &#8220;Access &amp; Engagement&#8221; office, a coordinator at the office said on a hidden camera. At Vanderbilt, the Center for Student Wellbeing has taken over DEI-related programs, according to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/watch-dei-efforts-were-rebranded-2-red-state-colleges-skirt-trump-orders-staffers-admit">Fox News</a>.
“We’re in the Center for Student Wellbeing – like I said, we have things that clue people in and let people know that this is a safe space for everybody,” an academic coach in the center said. &#8220;Belonging and Communities is like as close to that DEI work you can probably get. Previously, they were the Center for Social Justice and Identities.”
At Belmont University, the institution is not only continuing DEI under another name, but it is also enrolling illegal aliens, Belmont University Assistant Director of Student Success and Flourishing Jozef Lukey said in an undercover video first reported by <a href="https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2025/07/16/belmont-university-is-hiding-illegal-aliens-on-campus-n2659728">Townhall</a>.
“We definitely have to navigate very carefully and just cautiously just because we just don&#8217;t ever know,” he said. “Especially with the ICE raids that are happening in the city that impacts our campus.”
All three universities have denied the claims caught in the undercover videos, noting that individual employees do not speak for the institutions. The universities have also asserted that they follow all relevant laws and regulations.
The Trump administration has taken a combative stance against DEI and other “woke” initiatives across college campuses, picking fights with high-profile institutions such as Harvard and Columbia. The Trump administration has threatened or yanked taxpayer funding from a slate of top-tier schools over DEI programs, antisemitism, allowing males in female sports, and other issues.
The White House’s wrangling with Harvard has so far cost the university more than $2 billion in frozen funding. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday that the administration will investigate Harvard’s eligibility for a federal visa program that allows the university to sponsor foreign students and faculty.

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Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Marsha Blackburn

Tennessee

Vanderbilt University

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EXCLUSIVE: Blackburn Sends Warning Shot To Tennessee Schools After Undercover Videos Reveal DEI Push