Stephen A. Smith Warns DEI Rollback Chills HBCU Support, Trump Says He’ll Look Into It
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Nov 11
Stephen A. Smith Warns DEI Rollback Chills HBCU Support, Trump Says He’ll Look Into It
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Nov 11
Summary
At a mid-October White House meeting, Stephen A. Smith told President Donald Trump that companies are pulling back from supporting HBCUs because donations could be labeled DEI and trigger scrutiny.
Smith said Trump acknowledged he had not fully considered that side effect and told him he would look into it, framing the issue as distinct from opposition to race-based quotas.
Corporate donors and private foundations are described as growing more cautious as anti-DEI pressure widens, with even ordinary philanthropy toward Black institutions seen as a potential legal or political risk.
The broader warning is that a crackdown aimed at racial preferences could harden into a de facto hands-off policy toward HBCUs, undermining institutions that have long helped train Black professionals.