Purdue DEI Shutdown: Closures, Layoffs, and GEAR UP Grant Loss

Purdue University’s DEI shutdown took effect on May 30, 2025, when Provost Patrick J. Wolfe told faculty the university was “sunsetting historical DEI activities and initiatives, effective today.”¹² Wolfe described the move as a “necessary part of our future as a public university and a state educational institution” in light of state and federal policy pressure.³

What Purdue Shut Down

The dissolved office had done three main things: investigate discrimination and harassment complaints from students and staff, award grants to student-driven diversity programs, and run peer mentoring. Before closure it employed at least 11 executive staff and at least 16 regular staff, based on salary data and the office’s own website.²

DEI work scattered across the colleges was wound down at the same time. The timing drew its own criticism: the announcement landed on the last day of May, during summer break, when most students were off campus.⁴

What Replaced the Minority Programs

Two longstanding minority-focused programs were merged rather than closed. The Minority Engineering Program and the Dr. Cornell A. Bell Business Opportunity Program became the Boilermaker Opportunity Program Plus (BOP+), placed under the Office of the Vice Provost for Enrollment Management and designed to serve all students rather than specific demographic groups.³

The cultural centers stayed open. The Black Cultural Center, LGBTQ Center, and Latino Cultural Center were moved to the Office of the Vice Provost for Student Life and given a new mandate to serve “all students.”⁵

Who Lost Their Jobs

Purdue told affected employees they could “interview for current vacancies in other areas,” but did not say publicly how many people lost their positions. The Polytechnic Institute’s Recruitment and Diversity department had its entire staff let go on the director’s last day.⁶ A later AAUP statement alleged 60 student ambassadors were fired along with full-time staff, some of whom reportedly had no DEI-related responsibilities.⁷

One practical question went unanswered in the immediate aftermath: where discrimination and harassment investigations would go, now that the office handling them was gone. The university did not clarify a new reporting process in the days after the closure. Faculty member Stephanie Masta said the gap “creates a level of uncertainty” and would make it “harder for us to support students.”²

Why Purdue Did It

Two levels of government moved against DEI programs in the months before Purdue’s decision.

Indiana Senate Bill 289

In April 2025, the Indiana General Assembly passed Senate Bill 289, restricting DEI practices in state government and public education. The bill removed the requirement that public university boards of trustees maintain diversity committees and barred public employers from requiring training that asserts a person’s moral character or worth is determined by characteristics such as race, sex, or national origin.⁸ It passed largely along party lines, was authored by Senators Tyler Johnson and Gary Byrne, and followed Governor Mike Braun’s executive order directing state agencies to replace DEI initiatives with what his administration termed “merit, excellence and innovation.”⁹

SB 289 did leave one opening. Universities can still award grants and scholarships based on personal characteristics, as long as the funding does not come from state resources.⁹

Federal Executive Orders

Federal executive orders issued in January 2025 directed agencies to roll back DEI and DEIA programs. The Department of Energy, NASA, the Department of Labor, and the Department of State issued cease-work directives to universities on DEI-related grant activities.¹⁰ Purdue’s Sponsored Program Services set up daily tracking and communicated directly with principal investigators to halt affected work while keeping other project activities going.¹¹ Some agencies later rescinded their cease orders; the CDC and National Science Foundation both reversed course in February 2025. Others, including DOE directives, remained in some form.

The $34.9 Million GEAR UP Grant Cancellation

The largest financial hit came after the DEI office closed. In September 2025, the U.S. Department of Education canceled a $34.9 million federal grant that had funded Purdue’s GEAR UP program, a college-readiness initiative for low-income students created by Congress in 1998.¹² The grant had been awarded in 2024 and was supposed to run through 2031.

A September 12, 2025 termination letter from the Department called the grant application “inconsistent with, and no longer effectuates, the best interest of the Federal Government,” objecting specifically to DEI training for hiring managers, professional development in “culturally responsive teaching,” and the integration of social and emotional learning into STEM instruction, which it labeled an “inappropriate use of federal funds.”¹³

The program had served more than 13,000 low-income Indiana students, following them from seventh grade through their first year of college. Participants had a 97% high school graduation rate, compared with 87% for other low-income students statewide.¹⁴ The canceled grant would have expanded services to roughly 14,300 students across 28 schools. The program shut down on September 30, 2025. Purdue did not appeal and did not comment publicly on the decision.¹² Purdue’s grant was one of at least nine GEAR UP grants rescinded by the Education Department in 2025.

Faculty and Student Response

At the June 6, 2025 Board of Trustees meeting, graduate student Levi Li stood behind President Mung Chiang holding signs that read “Cowards, you are on the wrong side of history!!!” and “Stop complying in advance.” Students said university employees appeared to be under informal gag orders, referring every question to the university spokesperson. When reporters asked trustees to comment on the DEI cuts after the meeting, every trustee declined, and Chiang left the room immediately after adjournment.⁴

Faculty opposition went further. The AAUP Purdue Chapter introduced a no-confidence resolution against Provost Wolfe in February 2026, listing grievances that included the firing of DEI staff who had been told to continue “business as usual” and the dismissal of employees with no DEI-related duties. The University Senate directed its standing committees to investigate; four of six documented concerns by March 2026.⁷ On April 20, 2026, the Senate voted via Zoom and passed the resolution with roughly 74% in favor.¹⁵ Because the Senate operates under the Board of Trustees, the vote’s practical effect was unclear, and Wolfe had not been removed as of the latest reporting.¹⁶

Purdue Fort Wayne’s Separate Cuts

Purdue Fort Wayne acted first, on May 22, 2025, eight days before the main campus. The satellite fired 45 employees to close a $6 million budget gap driven by a 15% enrollment decline since 2019 and reduced state and federal support. Its entire Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion was eliminated, including the Women’s Center, Multicultural Center, and Q Center. Two federally funded programs, Upward Bound and TRIO Student Support Services, were spared. Personnel were also cut from 16 other units. A newly formed Hoosier Community Coalition tied the cuts to the political climate and SB 289, and member Veronica Johnson alleged staff had been told not to speak publicly against the institution.¹⁷

Where Purdue Stands Now

In May 2026, President Mung Chiang announced he was leaving to become president of Northwestern University, effective July 1, 2026. His tenure at Purdue lasted just over three years, the second-shortest presidency in the university’s history.¹⁸ The Board of Trustees unanimously voted to bring back former president and former Indiana governor Mitch Daniels as interim president, also effective July 1, at a salary of $25,000 per month. Daniels, then serving as president of the Purdue Research Foundation, said “no one as devoted to this institution as I am could say anything but yes.”¹⁹ Daniels has not made public statements about the DEI closures.²⁰

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WFYI. Legislature Approves Bill Banning DEI in Government and Schools
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Journal and Courier. Purdue Faculty Express No Confidence in Provost Wolfe
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Purdue Exponent. University Senate Passes Vote of No Confidence
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WANE. Purdue University Fort Wayne Hits DEI Offices, More in Jobs Cuts
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Journal and Courier. Purdue President Mung Chiang Resigns, Accepts Northwestern Role
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Purdue Exponent. Faculty Looks at Steps Beyond Daniels
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WTHR. Mitch Daniels Returning as Purdue Interim President