Amid DEI’s uncertain future, Rider plans course of action

By Jake Tiger

As universities nationwide face political scrutiny for inclusive initiatives, Rider Provost DonnaJean Fredeen said the idea of being called a diversity hire “hits home.”

In 1984, Fredeen was finishing up her doctorate in chemistry at Texas A&M University. She had just been interviewed for a job in a research development laboratory in Illinois. 

One of her peers, a man, told her she had only been interviewed because she was a woman. 

“It’s infuriating,” Fredeen said, “to be told that I didn’t have the same intellectual capacity that he did and that I didn’t bring something to the table other than my gender.”

Today, diversity, equity and inclusion, and the hiring practices associated with them, have moved to the forefront of political discourse with President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders seeking to reduce DEI initiatives at higher education institutions, possibly leading to change at Rider, which has spent years building up DEI as a pillar of its identity.

An executive order signed by Trump on Jan. 21, titled, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” states that modern DEI hiring practices violate civil-rights laws and undermine traditional American values or hard work, excellence and individual achievement. Later in the executive order, higher education is specifically mentioned, with it claiming that race- and sex-based preferences at institutions are “dangerous, demeaning and immoral.”

Federal government and corporate organizations have already rolled back DEI initiatives after the order was signed. On Jan. 22, a day after Trump signed the order, the State Department’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion closed with nearly everything stripped from its webpage. Only a mission statement, photo and social media links remain.

“It is a very chaotic time right now,” said Fredeen. “There is so much happening and so much coming out of Washington, D.C., that some of these organizations that are making decisions are really just saying, ‘What’s best for us?’”

The order directs the federal government, including the Department of Education, to abide by the new terms, which could eventually lead to change at Rider and other American institutions.

For now, according to Fredeen, Rider has not made any changes in response to the executive order and is planning its course of action if it is required to amend its DEI offerings, with the provost saying it is too early to tell what the university will need to change.

“From a higher education perspective, and particularly from Rider’s perspective, our commitment is to our students’ success,” said Fredeen. “We need to make certain that they feel they are in a welcoming and safe space. … Whether you call it DEI or belonging, it’s about trying to create that space where you can be the person you’re meant to be without fear.”

Fredeen said Rider has spent about a decade honing its DEI efforts, beginning when the administration began to notice a shift in the demographics of its student body. Since then, Rider established the Center for Diversity and Inclusion in the Bart Luedeke Center and the chief diversity officer position was created.

Fredeen said she meets with Chief Diversity Officer Heeyoung Kim on a weekly basis, and they began discussing the possibility of federal DEI changes last summer.

Kim and CDI Director Jasmine Johnson declined interviews with The Rider News, both responding with identical email statements: “We are still reviewing the executive order and discussing with our peers how this may impact DEI efforts at colleges and universities throughout the country. The order is targeted at the federal government currently, which — through the Department of Education — provides guidance on legal compliance for institutions of higher education. I would prefer to hold off on discussing plans until we have more information and time to comprehend the scope of this order.”

Trump also signed executive orders pertaining to DEI on Jan. 20 that call for federal policy to state that there are only two genders, change the way transgender athletes can participate in sports and seek to end the government’s DEI programs and preferencing. 

In her time at Rider, Fredeen said that it has always been her goal to hire people who are the most qualified for the position.

In 2004, 20 years after her incident with her peer at Texas A&M, Fredeen was working at Southern Connecticut State University, which had just hired a woman president for the first time.

She recalled a line from the SCSU president’s inaugural speech that she still finds herself thinking about: “I can’t wait until we get to the point where it’s no longer a big deal that you hired a woman.”