U.S. Agriculture Department suspends scholarships for students at historically Black colleges

Yahoo

22-02-2025

Feb. 22 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has suspended its scholarship program for students at historically Black colleges and universities while reviewing the program.
Meanwhile, the American Bar Association has suspended its diversity, equity and inclusion accreditation requirement for law schools through Aug. 31.
The USDA web page for the program says, "The 1890 Scholars Program has been suspended pending further review."
No other information is provided and the USDA did not respond to a request for comment made Saturday.
The program "seeks to increase the number of minorities studying agriculture, food, natural resource sciences and related disciplines and provides recipients with full tuition, employment, employee benefits, fees, books, and room and board every year for up to four years," according to the USDA.
The scholarship program is intended for 19 of the nation's designated 1890s land-grant universities and Tuskegee University, and in 2024 supported 94 students at a cost of $19 million, WTVF in Nashville, Tenn., reported.
No information is available regarding the exact date that the USDA suspended the scholarship program or when the review period might end.
One member of Congress denounced the suspension as denying opportunities for marginalized students.
"This is a clear attack on an invaluable program that makes higher education accessible for everybody and provides opportunities for students to work at USDA, especially in the critical fields of food safety, agriculture and natural resources that Americans rely on every single day," Rep. Alma Adams, D-N.C., told WTVF.
"This program is a correction to a long history of racial discrimination within the land-grant system [and] not an example of it."
USDA officials said all current students and others approved for the program are still being supported while it is under review.
"USDA is optimizing operations and strengthening its ability to serve farmers, ranchers, and the agriculture community," a spokesperson told WTVF.
"Like other programs within the Department, Secretary [Brooke] Rollins will continue to review the 1890 National Scholars Program, its mission, and its metrics to ensure the most efficient use of taxpayer resources."
American Bar Association
The ABA is the only organization that the Education Department recognizes for law school accreditation in the United States and has suspended its DEI requirement to rewrite its Standard 206, which was titled "Diversity and Inclusion."
The council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar on Friday voted to suspend its law school accreditation standard due to the Trump administration's executive order mandating the end of DEI efforts and potential loss of funding from the U.S. Department of Education.
"The committee's view is that with the executive orders and the law being in flux, it would be an extreme hardship for law schools if our standards were to require them to do certain things that may cause them to take more litigation risks and potentially violate the law," said Daniel Thies, chair-elect of the council and co-chair of its Strategic Review Committee.
The council is developing a new draft of its standard, which could be presented to the ABA House of Delegates for consideration during the association's annual meeting in August.
The ABA also will review the council's Standard 205, which is titled, "Non-Discrimination and Equality of Opportunity," and requires law schools to provide students with education related to cultural competence, racism and bias.
The ABA did not suspend its Standard 205 accreditation requirement.
The DEI-related changes are in response to the Trump administration banning DEI initiatives and all federal support for them.
The Department of Education might end federal funding for colleges and universities that have DEI requirements or initiatives in place despite the federal ban.