44 plus DC
Number of States
130
Number of Colleges and Universities
281
Numver of DEI FUNDs
$373,344,424
ToTal Amount of DEI Donations/Funding Tracked
Executive Summary
American universities, especially in the wake of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter, have established funds that focus on the advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) inside the institutions. The purpose of these funds range from the establishment of identity-based scholarships to funding DEI related programming on campuses.
While President Trump’s Executive Orders have incentivized universities to take down webpages and halt DEI related programmings, it does not mean that these institutions are necessarily ending these practices permanently. In some cases that are captured in this report, universities just rebranded the fund(s) or program. Below is one such example which features the same giving account number under different labels:
To date, we have been able to track down over $373,344,424 in donations to fund institution DEI programs, scholarships, and offices. While some of the funding has been tracked down via “Day of Giving” style campaign webpages, the vast majority of the money has been traced through university announcements, webpages, and reports. The information contained in this report primarily covers the years from 2021 to present with one or two exceptions noted below.
For example, in a now deleted University of Michigan report titled “Infrastructure Item: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fundraising,” it states that according to “those units able to identify their DEI funds, U-M raised over $98,665,269 for a wide range of DEI initiatives and funds, including scholarships for first-generation students.” The university also established a “George Floyd Memorial Scholarship” and “scholarship fund” in the wake of that event. The report time frame is from FY2016 to FY2021.
Additionally, in 2022, the University of Connecticut’s UCONN Foundation donated $23 million towards diversity, equity, and inclusion with the intent to “support important DEI factors, such as diversity of race, socioeconomics, and gender and sexual identity.”
According to a 2023 University of Delaware report, the university was able to raise $21 million to expand its diversity, equity, and inclusion programming. One of the funds included in the donor haul was it’s “Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, or JEDI, Fund” which states that support “helps provide programs, resources and opportunities to cultivate educated and empowered individuals who not only understand the origins of societal challenges related to equity and social justice but also have the tools to create solutions to address them.”
In 2023, the University of Illinois’ Grainger College of Engineering and Mechanical Science & Engineering Alumni Board contributed $100,000 to the department’s “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiative” to “help support scholarships for undergraduates, a mentoring program, an invited lecture series, and travel grants for undergraduates and graduate students to attend DEI meetings.”
Meanwhile, the University of California, Berkeley collected $186,420 in donations for “Increasing Diversity and Opportunity at Cal” during its “Big Give 2025” campaign.
We aim to highlight these funds as well as current and past DEI-based programs in higher education. This report contains both current and archived university webpages which highlight these DEI funds and the purpose for them.
Key Takeaways
- The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of the Arts and Architecture includes its “Anti-racism Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion” program which includes the UCLA Arts Racial Equity Fund which is an “AEDI scholarship fund established to support the realization of a more inclusive, equitable, and representative School of the Arts and Architecture with an emphasis on recruitment and retention practices rooted in diversifying our school community,” and was “created to address disparities in representation, to increase access to education, to strengthen the recruitment and retention of under-represented students.”
- The University of Southern California’s Race and Equity Center features a “National DEI Defense Fund” that is intended to be used to counter anti-DEI efforts such as “ban books,” the elimination of “diversity and inclusion educational programs,” and the suppression of the “teaching of truths about America’s racial past and present.”
- Naropa University’s (CO) support page includes making donations to the university’s “Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Scholarship” fund and its “Psychedelic Studies BIPOC Scholarship Fund.”
- In 2021, Florida International University’s Foundation raised $10,000,000 for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives including $4,000,000 from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to “establish the Digital Transformation Program at StartUP FIU Food, an online platform to help people of color who are food entrepreneurs expand their businesses to the digital marketplace.”
- The University of Michigan states in a removed webpage that from 2016-2021 it raised $98,665,269 for “a wide range of DEI initiatives and funds, including scholarships for first-generation students.”
- University at Buffalo’s (NY) School of Law Social Justice and Racial Equity Fund states that it is “designed to support a variety of initiatives, including diversity scholarships and fellowships, bar exam support for students of color, the Discover Law program for underrepresented students considering law school, and training and programming on racial justice topics.”
Examples
The University of Southern California’s National DEI Defense Fund states that it is “one of many ways the USC Race and Equity Center is countering politicized efforts to ban books, eliminate diversity and inclusion educational programs, and suppress the teaching of truths about America’s racial past and present” and is “committed to using evidence to protect the rights of students and families from misinformation, and to ensure that educators are able to responsibly prepare equity-minded citizens.”
Contributions to the fund will be used to “purchase and mail free DEI-focused books to students,” “offer financial support to high-quality DEI-focused educational programs and initiatives that have been disadvantaged by politicized, ill-informed budget cuts,” “provide legal support,” “raise national consciousness about threats to democracy and support the formation of DEI defense coalitions across the country,” and “deploy trusted experts who can testify in anti-DEI legislative hearings and provide evidence-informed guidance to K-12 and higher education leaders, school board members, and elected officials.”
Louisiana State University’s Manship School of Mass Communication appears to have rebranded its “Diversity, Equity and Media Grant” programming to the “Manship School’s Izard and Scripps Pilot Grant” program.
The school states that the grants “support research projects that analyze the dialogue and action that combat racism, institutional discrimination and systematic oppression.”
The “selected proposals are funded by the Ralph S. Izard Race and Media Studies fund and the Scripps Howard Race and Media Fund” which reflect the school’s “commitment to supporting research that analyzes and reports findings related to racism, institutional discrimination and systematic oppression.”
Loyola University Maryland’s Diversity-Justice (D-J) Requirement Fund states that its mission is to “support faculty in their efforts to infuse diversity and justice content into their courses and to support them in the process of applying to get these courses D-J designated.”
To help achieve the university’s core values and aims, all “students admitted to Loyola under the AY24-25 Academic Catalogue and later are required to successfully complete two Diversity-Justice designated courses anywhere in their curriculum.”
The Tepper School of Business’ Community and Inclusion Fund states that it will “provide funding for events, programs and initiatives that support diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging” which include “cultural celebrations,” “educational speakers,” “DEI&B awareness programs,” and “academic course development and research.”
According to a September 9, 2024, news release, the “Community & Inclusion Fund” was used for a variety of events, activities, and programming such as a “Pink Party” event that “supports Pittsburgh Sisters, an organization that focuses on Black trans women in Pittsburgh.”
The University of South Carolina honors college support page featured a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion fund that supported “initiatives that cultivate an inclusive environment where all students are respected and have a sense of belonging.” Currently, this fund has been removed from the college website, but it can be found here as an archived page.
Universities
The following is not a comprehensive list. As universities continue to remove webpages, links may be taken down or redirected. These will be updated whenever possible.
An * denotes that an archived page has been used in place of the original because that institution has removed the specific webpage.
Auburn University
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Fundraising (2021) – $907,400
University of Alabama
University of Alabama Birmingham
University of Alaska Anchorage
Arizona State University
- ASU Black African Coalition Student Scholar Fund
- College of Global Futures (CGF) Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Fund
University of Arizona
California Polytechnic Institute*
- Bailey College of Science and Mathematics – Inclusion and Equity Fund
- University Diversity & Inclusion Fund
California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt
California State University Chico
Loyola Marymount University
Otis College of Art and Design
Sacramento State University
Santa Clara University
Scripps College
- 2020 – Racial Justice and Equity Fund Donation – $1,000,000
Stanford University
University of California, Berkeley
- 2020-2021 Division of Equity and Inclusion fundraising – $34,000,000
- 2021 Giving Day – Division of Equity & Inclusion – $1,825
- Cal Athletics Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging and Justice Office
- College of Chemistry
- Big Give 2025 – Increasing Diversity and Opportunity at Cal – $186,420
- The Black Graduation Fund
- The Green Initiative Fund
University of California, Davis
- School of Medicine
- Give Day 2025 – Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – $27,260
University of California, Irvine
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
- Institute of American Cultures
- School of the Arts and Architecture
- Social Welfare Racial Justice Fellowship Fund
University of California, San Francisco
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of Southern California
Fort Lewis College
Metropolitan State University of Denver
- Office of Education Solutions
- Educators of Principle Program Fund
- Trauma-Informed Practices Fund
- Call Me MiSTER
- School of Education
- Dr. Rosemarie Allen Family Endowment
Naropa University
- Funds
- Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Scholarship
- Psychedelic Studies BIPOC Scholarship Fund
University of Colorado Boulder
University of Denver
- CU President’s Diversity Fund for Development and Support
- Diversity Funds
- Black Male Initiative Summit Gift Fund
- Black Women Lead Fund
- E-Stem (Equity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)
- LGBTQ Programming and Events Gift Fund
- Social Justice Living Learning Community Fund
- University Libraries Diversity Fund
Southern Connecticut State University
University of Connecticut
- Office for Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) Fund*
- The Black Studies Project (Archived page)
- UCONN Foundation
- 2022 -Donation for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – $23,000,000
Yale University
- School of Public Health
Delaware State University
University of Delaware
The George Washington University
Florida International University
Florida State University
Clark Atlanta University
University of Georgia
University of Idaho
Augustana College
Loyola University Chicago
Northern Illinois University
Roosevelt University
Southern Illinois University
University of Illinois
- College of Liberal Arts & Sciences DEI Funds
- LAS Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Fund
- LAS Undergraduate Diversity Fund
- LAS Faculty Diversity Fund
- The Grainger College of Engineering, Mechanical Science & Engineering
Butler University
- DEI Innovation Fund
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Priority Needs Fund
- 2024 Day of Giving – Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – $27,518
Indiana University (Bloomington)
- IUB School of Education Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Fund
- Jimmy L. Ross Endowment for Diversity Initiatives
Indiana University Indianapolis
- First Generation and Diversity Scholarship Fund
- Diversity Recruitment Scholarship Fund
- School Wellbeing of Gender Diverse Youth Research
University of Evansville
- Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
- Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
- Journey to Justice Fund
Drake University
University of Louisville
Louisiana State University
- Manship School of Mass Communication
- LSU Foundation (found under “search for a fund” – term “diversity”)
- CHSE Diversity and Civic Engagement Fund
- College of Agriculture Diversity and Retention Support Fund
- College of Business Diversity Support Fund
- Denny Shelton Diversity Non-Endowed Scholarship Fund
- Diversity and Inclusion Initiative Scholarship Fund
- Roger Hadfield Ogden Honors College Diversity Recruitment Program Support Fund
- RRSLA Diversity Equity Inclusion Fund
The University of Maine
Brandeis University
Clark University
Harvard University
- Harvard Graduate School of Education
- Office of Student Affairs
- Graduate School of Design
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Michigan State University
- 2016-2021 – DEI Fundraising – $98,665,269
- College of Agriculture & Natural Resources – Department of Entomology
- College of Music
- Diversity & Inclusion Outreach in Music Fund
- The Venice L Peek College of Music Scholarship Fund
- College of Social Science
University of Michigan
- Center for Social Solutions – Diversity Initiative Fund
- DEIA Initiatives
- Dr. Carroll B Williams Fund for Black Excellence Fellowship
- Fund for a Diverse, Equitable, Inclusive U-M
- School of Social Work – Anti-Racism Fund
- Stamps Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Fund
- UMSI Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fund
Wayne State University
College of St. Scholastica, The
Macalester College
University of Minnesota
Mississippi State University
- Giving – “Equity”
- Racial Equity Community of Practice
- The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss)
- Support Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Mississippi Schools
- Education Equity & Strategic Initiatives
- Diversity Teaching Recruitment Fund
- Support Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Mississippi Schools
University of Mississippi (Ole Miss)
Saint Louis University
University of Missouri
- Faculty Inclusive Excellence Fund*
- Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Funds
- Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender & Ally Scholarship Fund
- MBMI/MBWI Alternative Spring Break Trip
- Men of Color, Honor, and Ambition (MOCHA)
- Mizzou Black Men’s Initiative (MBMI)*
- Student Life Social Justice Centers Gift Fund
- Women of Color, Honor, and Ambition (WOCHA)
Montana State University
Nebraska Wesleyan University
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
University of Nevada, Reno
- CLA Diversity Fund
- Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Initiatives
- Alianza Scholarship Fund
- Emmy Sepulveda Pulvirenti Endowed Scholarship Fund
- Nathan G. Leipold Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund
- Rebati Misra Endowed Scholarship in Materials Science and Engineering Fund
Dartmouth College
Plymouth State University
University of New Hampshire
- 2025 – The (603) Challenge Giving Day – Inclusive Excellence and Belonging – $3,859
- DEI Funding Opportunities
- Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Strategic Initiatives Fund
- Wanda Mitchell Diversity Recruitment & Retention Fund
- Kidder Funding
- Bill Kidder LGBTQ+ Awards
- UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law Gift Funds
- DEI Scholarship Fund
- Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) Fund
Rutgers University
- Division of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement
- Nancy Boyd-Franklin Diversity Fellowship
- School of Social Work Inclusion, Intersectionality, Diversity, Equity, and Advancement (IIDEA) Fund
Rutgers University – Camden
Stockton University
University of New Mexico
Adelphi University
Buffalo State University
Colgate University
- Anti-racism Initiatives
- The Henry Livingston Simpson Fund
- Alumni of Color Third-Century Fund
- President’s DEI Discretionary Fund
- Internship Funds for Students of Color
- Funds to Support Graduate Fellowships and Graduate School Applications
Fordham University
- The Diversity Fund
- Fordham Law
- 2020- Expansion of Racial Justice Initiatives – $3,545,000
New York University
St. Lawrence University
Syracuse University
University at Albany
University of Buffalo
North Carolina State University
University of North Carolina
- College of Arts and Sciences (search using term “Diversity”)
- Alexander Yong and Wendi Sturgis Computer Science Diversity Initiative
- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fund in the College of Arts and Sciences
- Diversity Merit Scholarships-Private Donors
- Dr. Robert E. Seymour Jr. Dean’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Endowment Fund
- The Alexander Yong and Wendi Sturgis Computer Science Diversity Initiative Expendable Fund
- The Balter Fund for Quality, Diversity and Inclusiveness in Philosophy
- The Gwendolyn Harrison Smith Diversity Graduate Student Excellence Fund
- The Slayton Evans Diversity Enhancement Fund
- Kenan-Flagler Business School
Baldwin Wallace University
Clark State College
Kenyon College
Miami University
- Athletics
Ohio University
- 2022 Annual Report – Division of Diversity and Inclusion
- George Floyd Memorial Scholarship Fund
- Ebony Bobcat Network Scholarship Endowment – $300,000
- The Rev. Dr. Francine C. Childs Social Justice Scholarship Endowment – $25,000
- The Kent-Rudolph Scholarship Endowment – $25,000
- The Colonel Frank E. Underwood, Sr., Scholarship Endowment – $25,000
The Ohio State University
Oregon State University
Portland State University
- Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Research (JEDI-R) Scholars Fund
- Racial Equity Fund
- Queer and Trans Student Support Fund
University of Oregon
Carnegie Mellon University
- College of Engineering
- Tepper School of Business
Drexel University
- LeBow College of Business
- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fund* (rebranded as “Societal Impact”)
Eastern University
Haverford College
- Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Access
- Student Diversity, Equity, and Access (SDEA) Funding
- Thrive Fund
Lehigh University
- Institute for Critical Race and Ethnic Studies
- 2021 Donation – $2,500,000
- Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science
Pennsylvania State University (Penn State)
- 115th Anniversary Materials Science and Engineering Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fund
- This sample list of funds, along with many more, can be found through the “Giving to Penn State” search database using the following search terms: “diversity” or “equity”
Saint Joseph’s University
- Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Fund
- Diversity Equity and Inclusion Strategic Innovation Fund – $5,796
Swarthmore College
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pittsburgh
- 2025 – Day of Giving – Pitt for All – $20,000
Wilkes University
Brown University
- 2021 – Donations toward Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives – $20,000,000
- 2024 – Donations toward the Inman Page Council Brown Annual Fund Scholarship – $614,000
- Annual Fund Diversity & Inclusion
- IPC Brown Annual Fund Scholarship
- Mercedes Domenech BULAC Brown Annual Fund Scholarship
Bryant University
University of Rhode Island
College of Charleston
University of South Carolina
The University of Tennessee
Vanderbilt University
Rice University
Southwestern University
University of Texas at Austin
- Giving – [using the term “Diversity” in the search bar]
- College of Natural Sciences DEI Concentration
- Diversity, Equity, Access and Inclusion Projects
- Fund to Advance Equity and Inclusion at the Steve Hicks School
- Graduate Student Diversity
- JEDI Legislative Conference Fellowship
- Pre-Health and Diversity Scholars
- Misra Family Endowed Excellence Fund for Diversity and Inclusion
University of Utah
University of Vermont
- Inclusive Excellence
- Inclusive Excellence Fund
- Prism Center Fund (formerly the LGBTQA Center)
- Mosaic Center for Students of Color (formerly ALANA Center for Students of Color)
- Women and Gender Equity Center Fund
- Rubenstein School of Environmental and Natural Resources
- People of Color Environmental Collective Fund
- Rubenstein School Diversity, Equity, Justice and Inclusion Educational Fund
- The Amy Wise HDFS Student Scholarship Fund
Eastern Mennonite University
University of Richmond
University of Virginia
Washington and Lee University
University of Washington
- This sample list of funds, along with many more, can be found through the “Give to the UW” search database using the following search terms: “diversity” or “equity”
- Diversity Scholarships General Fund
- Safeco Diversity Scholarship Fund
- William and Barbara Forrest Diversity Scholarship
- Endowed Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (J.E.D.I) Support Fund in Aeronautics & Astronautics
University of Washington – Seattle
University of Washington – Tacoma
West Virginia University
University of Wisconsin – Madison
- 2021 – Raimey-Noland Campaign – $20,000,000
- This sample list of funds, along with many more, can be found through the UW Foundation search database using the following search terms: “diversity” or “equity”
- CALS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Fund
- Chancellor’s Scholarship Program Fund
- Deloitte Foundation Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Scholarship Fund in Business
- Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Fund in Psychology
- Division of Diversity, Equity, & Educational Achievement Student Emergency Support Fund
- Engineering Diversity Affairs Fund
- Industrial and Systems Engineering Diversity Scholarship Fund
- Institute for Diversity Science Fund
- La Follette Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Fund
- Raimey-Noland Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Fund
- School of Nursing Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Fund
- School of Veterinary Medicine Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Fund
- Sociology Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fund
- Wisconsin School of Business Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fund
- Wisconsin School of Business Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Scholarship Fund
