What Does Racial Healing Look Like at the University of Maryland?

Freshly into his second term, President Donald Trump immediately kept his campaign promise to defund and eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs within the government and the military. Though he didn’t target higher education, the executive orders have already bled into the decision-making of public universities. 

I was fortunate enough to complete my undergraduate studies at Howard University, the crown jewel of historically Black colleges and universities. It’s a campus where race or discrimination are a non-issue, and plays no role in a student’s advancement. 

RELATED: What We Can Learn From Octavia Butler in Times of Chaos

Still, the president’s wholesale erasure of policies designed to level the playing field for disadvantaged groups, particularly in education, ignores how race plays a factor in everyone’s lives, and is disrespectful to the lived experiences of people of color. Now I’m a graduate student at the University of Maryland, a predominantly white institution.

But because of Trump’s executive order, DEI initiatives on my campus and others could be at risk. 

In January 2019, the University of Maryland – Baltimore County was among the first to create a Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center, in partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Together with the American Association of Colleges and Universities, the mission of TRHT Campus Centers is to examine and acknowledge past harm and plot a way forward.

RELATED: At Rutgers, Racial Healing Is More Important Than Ever

The school has been a champion of inclusion since its inception in 1966, as it was the first public university in the state of Maryland to be inclusive of all races.

Understanding, after all, is on the other side of uncomfortable conversations.

With Trump back in office, I believe it is important to examine the removal of programs that were originally intended to level the playing field. The end of DEI initiatives likely will have a profound effect on teenagers and young adults of color who are looking for jobs or trying to further their education. 

On Jan. 28, Trump announced an immediate pause on federal grant programs to review whether or not they coincide with his agenda to create a nation that is “colorblind” and a society that prioritizes meritocracy. Trump reversed the plan after significant pushback and confusion, but what’s being said and what’s being done is changing daily. 

Race plays a factor in everyone’s lives.

However, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump’s executive order on federal funding remains “in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented.”

I personally know people who paid for college with  Pell Grants. While the president wants to examine government financial aid programs for signs of DEI policies, changing or eliminating them can affect students at predominantly white institutions and historically Black colleges and universities alike. 

Before a nation can become united, the people of that nation must understand situations that may not affect them or the people immediately around them. Sometimes, that means stepping out of your comfort zone and educating yourself on something that may make you uncomfortable.

In these next six months as a TRHT Fellow writing for Word In Black, I hope to contribute stories about how important some of these changes are and how they affect everyday people trying to carve out a decent life for themselves in this country.

Mekhi Abbott is one of Word In Black’s four Racial Healing Youth Ambassadors. He reports on and amplifies African American student experiences with her campus Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation groups. Launched by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the TRHT effort promotes inclusive and community-based healing activities and policy designs that seek to change community narratives and broaden the understanding of diverse experiences among people.