“Our mission has not changed; our values have not changed,” said CEO & President Patrick M. Jones in an interview on the topic of the dear colleague letter.

On Feb. 14, 2025, a letter from the United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights sent out a letter to all colleges. In the letter it was stated that schools have approximately two weeks to get rid of all of their programs involving DEI.

This comes after the Dear Colleague letter written by Craig Trainor was sent out to all colleges across the United States. The article described that colleges had two weeks to get rid of all their DEI related programs.

President Donald Trump signed this executive order on Valentine’s Day, and then the dear colleague letter came out shortly after. The Dear Colleague letter was a way of guidance on how to comply with the executive order. Trump said he would cut the federal funding of colleges if they proceeded to use DEI initiatives.

Which brings about the question of what the difference between the executive order and what the dear colleague letter is describing. The letter was guidance sent to colleges to implement the executive order. Neither the letter nor the executive order is the law.

In addition, the letter reminds us that the “Discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin is illegal and morally reprehensible,” it reiterates Title VI and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

An example of a similar situation with a college relating to DEI is the Students for Fair Admissions, Inc v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. The case had argued that the use of race within college admissions was unconstitutional. In accordance it had described that with the use of race in admissions was diminishing to disclose that in the college application.

In addition to the letter, it reminds us of what DEI means. DEI stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, it was introduced during the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and was signed by Lyndon B. Johnson. It was to make sure there would be no discrimination against anyone’s race, sex, religion, national origin, or economic status during the hiring process.

DEI is important for many reasons, as it is meant to give everyone an equal opportunity at succeeding. DEI does not diminish any groups and the reason it exists is to make sure no one is being discriminated against. DEI is meant to ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity of success, and it is to make sure no one is excluded from anywhere or deterred.

In addition, something to note is that along with the potential threat of federal funding being cut within the letter, just note that this does not affect student organizations, as student organizations are run by the students.

Regarding funding, the federal funding involves student aid which will not be cut.

“In terms of compliance, we are reviewing language, the way we might describe something or might call something if that needs to be changed so that we don’t appear to be discriminating because we are not discriminating,” said Jones.

“Bucks since 1964 has been here for students from all walks of life,” said President Jones.

“We have the most diverse student body in terms of every category in terms of race, ethnicity, gender identity, but also in terms of where people are in life. Young kids in our summer camp programs, we have high school students doing dual enrollment, we have students right out of college doing the first two years of transfer or occupational degree, we have adults returning later in life, we have retiree programs, it means we are available to all of these people wherever they are in life. But we do not discriminate, we do not discriminate based on race, we have not discriminated based on race, and we are not going to discriminate based on race,” said President Jones.

“We have not been doing anything that is discriminatory,” said President Jones. This adds onto the fact that Bucks CCC has been and will continue to be a welcoming college for everyone and will continue to make sure students and faculty feel welcomed here.

Here at Bucks, the mission hasn’t changed, and the value hasn’t changed, and it will continue to be a welcoming college for everyone. As well as to make sure that students feel a sense of belonging here.

For those interested, you can locate the Dear Colleague letter on www.ed.gov