In late May of this year, Indiana University Bloomington shut down its Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in compliance with Indiana’s new federal guidelines regarding DEI.

      At a university of 48,424 students as of fall 2024, 27.4%–roughly 13,268 students–identify as people of color. In Indiana, nearly 59% of Black, 49% American Indian/Alaska Native and 47% of Hispanic households are below the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) threshold, which is the minimum income a household needs to afford basic necessities where they live.

      “I think it’s important that we lift up people who have systematically had, you know, issues, in the history of this country,” Incoming IU student Mackenzie McLane said. “I think it’s kind of doing a disservice to them, and I think it’s important that everyone should have an equal playing field, so I think that the cuts to DEI are actively contributing to inequality.”

    IU is considered a predominantly white institution (PWI), meaning that the majority of the population is white. Which PWIs are commonly known to create a lack of representation or lack of support towards people from diverse backgrounds.

      “I think it will affect it dramatically, especially because it’s already a PWI,” IU junior Alayna Holmes agreed. Studies have shown that having DEI at a PWI can resolve such issues by ensuring an environment where people of color are represented, supported and welcomed. All the many cultures people of color bring along with the different backgrounds they may come from where especially at IU 4,984 students come internationally.

      “It’s necessary because a lot of people know this is a PWI. So like, I feel like just having that diversity in the college, and there’s like 50,000, 40,000 kids.” Incoming IU student Calvin Washington said. “So it’s like having that diversity is, like, important, because everybody needs to know about different cultures and stuff like that.”

      Washington, in connection with Brandon Lee, who is the founder/CEO of B.lengendary–a non-profit organization, presenting a program called The Hub–that helps the youth of Indiana in subjects such as financial literacy, mentorship and entrepreneurship. That mainly focuses on youth coming from lower-income households. B.legendary attempts to demonstrate to the community that everyone deserves a chance and not just minorities.

      “It’s diverse too, so it’s not just black kids in the program like diversity, it’s like white kids, Spanish, Latino, it’s like everybody’s in the program,” Washington agreed. “Nobody’s left behind at all.”