ANN ARBOR, MI — Over 300 people showed up at the University of Michigan’s Diag on Tuesday, demanding UM officials bring back DEI initiatives to campus.

The protest began around 5 p.m. and gave staff, faculty, students and community members a chance to share their feelings following the discontinuation of UM’s DEI 2.0 Strategic Plan and the closures of its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Office for Health Equity and Inclusion.

The changes came in the midst of fear over funding cuts from the Trump administration.

UM officials said at the time it plans to “shift resources to increase investments in student-facing programs,” like financial aid, mental health resources and pre-professional counseling instead.

Earlier Tuesday, the university announced a series of investments, including the expansion of its Wolverine Pathways program to five new sites as a way to redirect resources previously used on DEI initiatives.

Robert Sellers, UM’s first diversity officer and a professor of psychology and education, called the move a “publicity stunt.” He said programs like Wolverine Pathways were previously ran with the help of ODEI.

He criticized UM’s “lack of engagement” with the community and experts on these programs.

“I want to make sure that we understand that not only have we violated our values as an institution, perhaps even worse, is we’ve simply given up common decency,” Sellers said.

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University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor Germine “Gigi” Awad also spoke out, urging the UM administration to rehire those fired as a result of recent changes.

She alleges the university terminated any roles related to DEI 2.0 and got rid of the office responsible for evaluating and researching DEI programs at UM.

As a research-based institution, she said this is a major issue. The university needs to reopen those offices, she said.

“We at UM make decisions based on sound and rigorous empirical data,” Awad said. “Cutting the evaluation and research arm of ODEI is a decision designed to prevent the collection of data that may show where DEI needs to be improved, and mask and hide the gains made by DEI.”

UM officials have still not confirmed how many jobs have been lost since the cuts. Officials did not immediately respond to an inquiry regarding this number.

“If the University of Michigan truly want to be the leaders and the best, then the leaders of this university should act like it,” Awad said.

Hundreds may have showed up to Tuesday’s protest, but this is just the beginning for those speaking out, Love and Sellers said.

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