Photo by University of Arizona

As guidelines aimed at dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are being implented at educational institutions nationwide in response to policies enacted by President Donald Trump, concerns about their impact on Indigenous students and other students of color remain unclear.

For those students, the sudden ending of those programs is a front-and-center concern. One of those changes sparked concern among Indigenous students at the University of Arizona when they noticed that the university quietly changed language in its official land acknowledgment — without consulting tribes and students.

Indigenous law student Jacquelyn Francisco pointed out the change to Arizona tribal leaders on Feb. 19 during the 4th Annual Tribal Leaders Summit & Student Engagement event.

Francisco stood in front of a room full of tribal leaders and fellow Native students and sharply criticized the university’s administration for unilaterally changing the land acknowledgment language, which had been drafted in conjunction with tribal leaders. She was met with resistance from university officials hosting the event.

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Before she spoke, Franciso was denied access to the microphone at the podium by Tessa Dysart, the assistant vice provost for Native American Initiatives, and Kari McCormick, the executive director for Native American Advancement and Tribal Engagement.

Stepping away from the podium and speaking directly to the crowd, Francisco said that University of Arizona President Suresh Garimella discussed the university’s commitment to tribal nations in an earlier speech, but she questioned this commitment after the university “erased” the words “committed to diversity and inclusion” from its official land acknowledgment.

“If he and the university were really committed, they would not delete these words,” Francisco said in a video posted on social media by the University of Arizona Native and Indigenous Law Students Association (NILSA). The Arizona Mirror contacted Francisco for comment, but she declined an interview.

Francisco is a second-year law student at the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law and serves as president of the NILSA. She is Diné and Jicarilla Apache.

NILSA is an organization of law students, faculty and staff at UA dedicated to raising awareness about Indigenous peoples within the law school and the broader community, as well as educating on the legal issues that affect them

“Deleting those five words triggers the erasure of our tribes,” Francisco said in the video. “It’s coming.”

The University of Arizona announced its land acknowledgment statement in 2021, highlighting how it was crafted in consultation with Arizona tribal leaders. Its purpose is to recognize the peoples whose homelands the campus occupies.

The university said at the time that it would provide a foundation for partnerships that more meaningfully serve tribal students and Indigenous communities around the state.

The original land acknowledgment was: “We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples. Today, Arizona is home to 22 federally recognized tribes, with Tucson being home to the O’odham and the Yaqui. Committed to diversity and inclusion, the University strives to build sustainable relationships with sovereign Native Nations and Indigenous communities through education offerings, partnerships, and community service.”

The land acknowledgement on the university’s website now does not include the phrase “committed to diversity and inclusion” in the third sentence. University spokesperson Mitch Zak could not say when the language was changed but said it occurred within the last week.

An internet archive shows that the original language was still present on Feb. 7, and that it had been removed by Feb. 13.

Francisco said in a post on her LinkedIn that the university’s actions were made “without transparency and without considerations for the Indigenous students and communities it directly affects.”

“A land acknowledgment should not be subject to silent revision or political convenience,” she added. “I call on the University of Arizona to restore the original Land Acknowledgement, which was drafted and enacted by Arizona’s Tribal leaders.”

University of Arizona DEI response

The University of Arizona is assessing all programs, positions, and activities related to DEI and their potential impact on students as calls to terminate DEI initiatives grow, the university’s president announced in a university-wide email on Feb. 18.

The announcement comes shortly after a Feb. 14 memo from the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, which gave universities a two-week deadline to comply with Trump’s executive order eliminating DEI programs or face federal funding cuts.

Garimella’s email did not specify what programs, practices or policies may be at risk, but he wrote that implementing the recent federal directives would be a “complex process” due to potential legal challenges, variances in agency interpretations and varying timelines.

“It will take time to understand their full impact,” he wrote.

The change to the land acknowledgment language was made to comply with Trump’s executive order and avoid losing federal funding, the university told the Mirror. But it won’t change the way the school educates Indigenous students, a university spokesman said.

“Aligning our land acknowledgment with federal guidance does not change the university’s unwavering commitment to its land grant mission or providing access to a world-class education for Native, Indigenous, and all students,” Zak said in a written statement to the Mirror.

“We will continue to support and engage with Indigenous communities through education, research, and meaningful partnerships that honor the land’s rich history and culture,” he added.

In the fall 2024 semester, there were more than 2,000 Native American students at UA, accounting for 3.6% of the student population.

The land acknowledgment change isn’t the only apparent sign of the university’s scramble to comply with the Trump administration or lose funding: The Office of Diversity and Inclusion website is no longer available on the UA website. The office’s homepage now redirects to the university’s main website.

However, the James E. Rogers College of Law website’s landing page for diversity and inclusion is still active, and it lists the Native American Law Students Association as one of the student organizations.

UA stated that it is “monitoring the changing federal landscape and assessing the impact of the federal updates” on operations, research activities, faculty, staff and students. The UA website provides updates, the last of which was on Feb. 19.

“University leaders and teams across campus are working together to understand the full scope of anticipated legislation, guidance and regulations from all levels of government,” the university stated.

As a public institution, the university said it will follow all applicable local, state and federal laws regarding DEI. The University of Arizona is a land-grant university.

“We are taking a measured approach toward ensuring compliance with new policies and procedures that will impact higher education institutions in the coming weeks and months,” UA stated on its website. “This includes creating an inventory of our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA)-related programs, jobs and activities, and assessing the impact on the university community.”

The University of Arizona’s response comes days after the U.S. Department of Education sent out a letter threatening to cut federal funding for schools implementing race-conscious practices in admissions, programming, training, hiring, scholarships and other elements of student life. The letter was sent to schools on Feb. 14

Craig Trainor, the U.S. Department of Education’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, wrote that educational institutions have “indoctrinated students” with the “false premise” that the U.S. was founded on systemic and structural racism, which includes discriminatory policies and practices.

In the letter, he wrote that those “discriminatory practices” have often been justified “under the banner of diversity, equity, and inclusion,” and he noted that any discrimination based on race, color or national origin is illegal.

The DOE’s actions align with Trump’s actions to enforce stricter measures on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across the federal government.

“The Department will no longer tolerate the overt and covert racial discrimination that has become widespread in this Nation’s education institutions,” Trainor warned. Institutions have until Feb. 28 to comply, or they will face the “potential loss of federal funding.”

‘Stand with us’

Winona Little Owl-Ignacio was sitting at a table in the audience when Francisco went up to the podium to speak and watched as the university officials denied her access to the mic. But it wasn’t until she overheard them threaten to call campus security to remove Francisco that she walked up and stood beside her.

Little Owl-Ignacio said she recognized that Francisco needed the support because she did not want the situation downplayed as simply a Brown woman getting angry.

“Anger is never a good thing, but especially for people of color,” she said in an interview. “I didn’t want them to paint that picture of her, because she’s a student (and) she doesn’t deserve to be treated like that.”

Little Owl-Ignacio said she stood up because it was unfair for university officials to try to physically prevent Francisco from speaking. In the video, Dysart is seen pulling and keeping the microphone away from Francisco while McCormick stands on the other side of her.

That denial, coupled with comments about calling campus security, raised concerns among the Indigenous students present, Little Owl-Ignacio said, adding that several students approached her afterward, expressing their fears.

“Nobody deserves to have that fear when they go to school,” she added, especially when it comes from university officials who are “supposed to be helping Native Americans.”

Little Owl-Ignacio, 22, is a James E. Rogers College of Law student in the Indigenous People’s Law and Policy Program. She is Lakȟóta and Tohono O’odham.

In the video, she stands next to Francisco and addresses the crowd, calling on tribal officials’ support and asking them “to stand with us, especially when President Trump is handing down these DEI initiatives and saying that we don’t need that.”

The University of Arizona has several Native American initiatives, including admissions and funding, student clubs and student resources.

During the event, Little Owl-Ignacio said tribal leaders heard about these initiatives — but from university officials and not the students.

She said it’s important for the university to understand that the success of student organizations led by Indigenous students and programs geared toward helping Indigenous students at the University of Arizona is only possible because of those students.

“Those places are where Native students have found a home,” Little Owl-Ignacio said, adding that the actions of the university officials during the event show that they’re “not in community with the students.”

“It’s bigger than just the land acknowledgment,” she said. “We need to support our Native students, but we also need to support the resources and the centers that are directly helping those Native students on the ground.”

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This post was originally authored and published by Shondiin Silversmith from AZ Mirror via RSS Feed. Join today to get your news feed on Nationwide Report®.