Dear Editor,  

I am deeply troubled to hear that several Vanderbilt University staff “will step back from regular responsibilities” — language that suggests suspension — while under investigation for alleged misrepresentation and/or violation of our current DEI policy. 

Here’s the problem. 

What exactly is Vanderbilt’s current policy? 

Vanderbilt states, “we are fully compliant with all applicable federal and state laws.”  

This is not useful information. DEI programs, per se, are not non-compliant. Renaming DEI programs is not illegal. 

So, what exactly is being investigated? 

President Donald Trump has the authority to dictate policy for his administration, as in Executive Order (EO) 14151, in which he prohibited DEI programs in federal agencies. 

President Trump does not, under any reasonable reading of the Constitution nor under rule of law, have the authority to issue any sort of nationwide ban — let alone a ban on something as amorphous as “programs going by the name DEI.”  

Because the president cannot make law, the mandates of an EO must be consistent with existing law and directed at federal agencies only. Thus, EOs certainly can and do affect Vanderbilt — for example, due to changes in priority for enforcement of existing law — but an EO can never apply to us. 

For Trump’s DEI EOs, the relevant law is federal anti-discrimination law, which the Supreme Court most recently reinterpreted in 2023 in a case commonly known as SFFA. 

 In April’s Debrief with Diermeier, Chancellor Daniel Diermeier stated that “because we are a recipient of federal funds, we are usually viewed as a federal contractor. As such, many of [Trump’s DEI-related EO] directives apply to us, so we act accordingly. That’s really a legal decision.” 

But federal “contractors” are not the same as federal “agencies.” Anti-discrimination law, including the findings of SFFA, already applied to us. DEI programs legal under prevailing law the day before the EOs were signed remain legal today. 

With Vanderbilt employees now at apparent risk of punishment for related infraction, clarity is long overdue for our community. 

Truth is long overdue. 

Vanderbilt: where, exactly, do you stand?