Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives are fading under pressure from the Trump administration. Florida and Texas have dismantled DEI offices, while Georgia has barred mandatory DEI training and eliminated diversity statement requirements. Similar substantive and symbolic efforts, such as renaming, defunding, and slowly demolishing the DEI infrastructure, are underway in many other states. Although some read these legislative measures and administrative rollbacks as a sign that the DEI movement is in terminal decline, reports of its demise are premature.

Most substantive changes are occurring in public universities in red states and in a few Ivies targeted by the federal administration. Those who believe the movement has run its course mistake dormancy for termination; they overlook the resilience of the DEI infrastructure — the interconnected network of administrators, accrediting bodies, publishers, faculty, incentives, and professional norms that sustains it.