Zamiya Warner got involved in Project S.P.A.R.K during her freshman year at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi. She had heard about the program, which is designed to assist underrepresented MSU students, from other students in the metro Jackson area.
“When I came to S.P.A.R.K., I wanted to make sure that I found my people and found a space that was good for me,” she told Mississippi Free Press on April 7. “S.P.A.R.K. just so happened to be that organization.”
After three years, the junior kinesiology major from Pearl, Mississippi, became director of the program. She was ready to show the incoming group of students the opportunities that await them in college. Now, that won’t happen.
Project S.P.A.R.K. is now on hold amid the Trump administration’s crusade against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and similar efforts to increase representation and opportunities for marginalized populations. The conference’s website description has removed the term “underrepresented” from the program’s mission statement.
“Due to a combination of a lack of clarity about evolving compliance requirements related to recent federal directives, possible changes to state law, and future funding from state and federal funds, the program has been paused and will not occur this summer,” an April 1 statement on the group’s social media page read.
MSU Office of Admissions Assistant Director of Outreach and Operations Dee Stegall would not comment on the program’s current status, saying only that he expected the institution would “make an official statement regarding S.P.A.R.K. in the near future.” Months later, its fate remains uncertain.
‘Confusion and More Than a Little Paranoia’
Project S.P.A.R.K. is among a number of programs Mississippi State University has changed or cancelled following a Dear Colleague letter that educational institutions received from the federal government on Feb. 14, instructing institutions of higher education to roll back diversity initiatives. Though a federal court has since temporarily halted the directives, faculty and staff at MSU say that the changes the university has made this year have left them without clear direction.
The university initially said that it was assessing its compliance in a statement on Feb. 19, but it began making changes almost immediately. School officials communicated several changes to MSU employees, including website deletions, job description language edits and committee and department name changes.
Mississippi State University is the leading research institution in the state. Yet some faculty are concerned that their research could fall under topics that the university could exclude in order to comply with the Trump administration’s demands. Faculty members often present that research at conferences across the nation, bringing both the staff members and the university notoriety.
Educators and researchers said they are unclear on whether or not those presentations will be off-limits, whether they may take professional leave to attend a conference, or if the university can cover their expenses. Some faculty members are questioning whether they can remain involved in national committees that could conflict with the Trump administration’s directive or if they can even claim an association with the university when speaking on their research.
“There has been nothing in writing from upper administration regarding what we are supposed to do,” said Lucas, an MSU faculty member who spoke on condition of anonymity and using a pseudonym to protect his identity. “All communication has been verbal. I know that three departments have heard three different things. There’s confusion and more than a little paranoia. One department heard that travel for research or presentations on topics related to things like DEI or climate change would no longer be funded. Another heard the opposite. Another heard that it will be trips to conferences that are related to forbidden topics that will not be funded.”
All of these factors could affect promotion and tenure.
“It seems like refusing to count past work that involved DEI is on the table,” Lucas said. “This would sink a number of colleagues. I might have enough to get by without mentioning any of that work, but I know some of my co-workers could not.”
Faculty in departments that the government could construe as focused on diversity, equity and inclusion—such as Gender Studies or African American Studies—are also concerned about whether their positions will continue.
‘Anything Like Diversity is a Bad Word’
Mississippi State University, like most longtime institutions across the state, has a history that is deeply tied to our white supremacist past. At the center of the campus sits a statue of MSU’s first president, Confederate Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Lee. As a planter after fighting for the South in the Civil War to defend the right to own slaves, Lee complained that “the Negro race since the war … are not giving us the good work as they used to do,” and he helped create the Jim Crow-riddled 1890 Mississippi Constitution that was designed to roll back Black civil rights gains since the war. Buildings on campus also feature the names of virulent racists and slaveowners like James K. Vardaman and James Z. George.
Now, acknowledging that history and its legacy could prove tricky for educators.
Just weeks into the new Trump administration, Mississippi State University administrators told departments to remove words such as “access,” “minority,” “bias,” or “discrimination” from official profiles and websites, Engagement Librarian DeeDee Baldwin told the Mississippi Free Press in February.
“Pretty much anything that acknowledges racism exists has to be taken off,” she said, while making it clear that she was speaking in her individual capacity and not as a representative of the university. “Anything like ‘diversity’ is a ‘bad word.’ You have to go through and make sure nothing on your website could be construed as supporting DEI.”
The university’s response to the Trump administration’s anti-diversity efforts has also led to the cancellation of other programs on campus that could be considered adjacent to promote diversity, equity and inclusion.
Project ENspire postponed its 10th Annual gathering amid the changes. The project, which began in 2016, introduces girls in grades four through six to engineering. The project released a statement saying it hoped to reschedule the program in the future.
“We will align with Mississippi State University and their recommended practices as we navigate recent federal directives regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion,” the March 13 statement said. “Our hope is that one day we will once again be able to hold our event, which aims to reach more future engineers in a state full of untapped potential.”
Project ENspire has not released any updates in the months since.
Mississippi State has also moved to rename departments on campus with titles or missions that align with DEI. The university renamed the Holmes Cultural Diversity Center to the Holmes Center for Student Success.
A university statement in February said the change reflected MSU’s efforts to comply with input and guidelines from both federal and state governments regarding discrimination in higher education by demonstrating its commitment to creating an equitable and supportive academic environment for all. It also said the center will continue to support first-generation students, low-income students and students from foster care systems. An archived version of the previous website remains on the Wayback Machine.
“Changing the name and focus of the Holmes Center is one of a series of strategies that reflects a comprehensive approach to our student success efforts,” Vice President for Access, Opportunity and Success Rasheda Boddie-Forbes said in the Feb. 28 statement. “As we await additional guidance from multiple branches of government, we are evaluating new organizational structures that are better fits for how we intend to operate moving forward.”
Mississippi State University renamed the former Division of Access, Diversity and Inclusion to the Department of Access, Opportunity and Success in 2023, citing a “campuswide effort focused on serving the whole student” amid attacks from state leaders on diversity programs. That department houses the Holmes Cultural Diversity Center, the Office of Inclusive Excellence, the Office of Access and Success, and the Office of Pre-College and Opportunity Programs.
The university named the Holmes Center after Dr. Richard E. Holmes, Mississippi State University’s first Black student. He enrolled at MSU in July 1965. He settled in Birmingham, Ala., and specialized in emergency medicine for 23 years. In 1991, MSU recognized Holmes by naming its cultural diversity center in his honor. He returned to MSU in 2001 to become a staff physician at the university health center.
The Holmes Center was designed to enhance the college experience for students in underrepresented populations and oversees several campus organizations that promote inclusion and diversity.
‘A Time of Great Uncertainty’
The Mississippi Legislature’s stance on DEI is adding to fears for faculty and caution for MSU leadership. State lawmakers passed legislation this year to prohibit Mississippi public schools, state-accredited nonpublic schools, and state-supported institutions of higher learning from “creating, teaching, or promoting diversity, equity and inclusion” or “requiring diversity statements or training in hiring, admission, and employment processes.” The new law takes effect on July 1.
“Our legal counsel is meeting and we should hopefully get some guidance pretty soon,” Baldwin told the Mississippi Free Press on April 8. “There are questions about what professors will be allowed to teach and if that’s going to be affected at all (and) whether or not certain textbooks can be used.”
Months later, that process is still ongoing.
“The university is still evaluating the program. We will address the future when that evaluation is complete,” MSU Vice President for Strategic Communications Sid Salter told the Mississippi Free Press on June 17.
Baldwin told the Mississippi Free Press on June 18 that her current understanding is that teaching and textbooks are protected under academic freedom but that the university has requested clearer guidance from IHL by July 1.
Mississippi State University’s Black Alumni Advisory Council said the organization believes MSU can comply with the directives, if necessary, while still ensuring its minority population is not overlooked.
“We are truly living in a time of great uncertainty where long-standing norms and processes are being challenged,” Chairperson Zwan Landfair said in a statement on March 7. “I appreciate that Mississippi State University remains committed to positioning its students, faculty, and staff for greater success. This can be accomplished by prioritizing fairness, opportunity, and support for the entire MSU family, including its Black Alumni—even in the face of new federal directives or other challenges.”
Landfair encouraged the group to engage with the university amid ongoing changes.
On April 1, Mississippi State’s campus NAACP chapter penned a letter to President Mark Keenum imploring him to meet with affected students, programs and organizations to ensure the communities they serve are not left behind and have the necessary resources to succeed.
“The recent decision to eliminate critical Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs and funding for student organizations has deeply impacted our campus,” the statement said. “These initiatives have long served as lifelines, offering mentorship, academic resources, financial resources, and professional development opportunities for students who rely on them to navigate systemic barriers.”
“We understand that removing certain programs and initiatives has been focused on compliance with federal regulations regarding DEI,” it continued. “Their removal not only undermines the university’s stated values of inclusivity but also leaves many students questioning whether they have a place at Mississippi State University.”
‘These Programs Were Their Support System’
The changes are also leaving faculty and staff wondering how to proceed. Staff members told this reporter that campus employees cannot be sure that they are complying with the university’s directives because the directives are unclear.
Lucas said that MSU President Mark Keenum addressed the faculty’s concerns in a letter in late February that listed some of the things the university was doing to comply, such as “changes to website language, nomenclature on campus, and policies concerning student organizations.” But the letter still provided no concrete guidance for faculty members who are struggling to determine their next steps.
“We’ve been told to avoid anything that ‘seems to’ violate the letter,” Lucas said. “Essentially, we have been told to carefully self-censor. In the absence of more clear guidance, it feels like the burden of compliance is placed on us.”
In his letter on Feb. 28, Keenum wrote that the failure to comply with federal directives “could result in the loss of federal funding, and such a loss would be catastrophic to our university.” MSU’s president said the university was working with IHL, state and federal leaders to understand how to comply with federal directives.
“We’ve had numerous conversations with peer institutions to ensure that our interpretations are reasonable and that we are not over- or under-interpreting, making us an outlier,” he wrote.
Keenum also acknowledged that “it’s easy for all of us to feel overwhelmed by all of these many different changes, especially with endless news coverage and social media commentaries.”
“However, we’ve faced great change before and have always found a way to move forward. I have no doubts we will do so again. Throughout our discussions and planning the past few weeks, our No. 1 priority has been our people. We’re committed to doing all we can to protect the people who make everything we do as a modern, comprehensive, research university and land-grant institution possible.”
Right now, the fate of the directives is uncertain after a federal court temporarily blocked the implementation of the orders in the Dear Colleague letter nationwide on April 24, while legal challenges continue.
Center for Black Educator Development CEO and founder Sharif El-Mekki said in a statement with the ACLU that day that the decision “should mark the beginning of a permanent withdrawal from the assault on teaching and learning.”
“The Department’s attempt to punish schools for acknowledging diversity, equity and inclusion is not only unconstitutional, but it’s also extremely dangerous—and functions as a direct misalignment with what we know to be just and future forward,” he said.
The U.S. Department of Education confirmed to the Mississippi Free Press on June 18 that it had ceased enforcing the directive for now and had also shut down its End DEI portal, which allowed people to report violations of the Trump administration’s orders.
Still, MSU has not made any major changes in response to the injunction, nor rolled back its previous efforts to comply with the Dear Colleague letter, which could come back into force if federal courts determine that it does not violate federal law or the U.S. Constitution.
“As with all federal and state directives over the last several months, MSU has worked hard to be policy compliant while we monitor relevant court decisions,” Salter told the Mississippi Free Press on June 18.
That same day, DeeDee Baldwin said faculty were feeling “somewhat” better, but fears remained. She said faculty members are worried about the fall semester.
“There’s a lot of concern about the reporting system and potential abuse of it to go after professors who teach certain subjects,” Baldwin said on June 18. “And lots of concern for the well-being of our international students.”
The librarian said that, ultimately, the students are the ones who are losing.
“I feel really bad for the students, because for a lot of them, these programs were their support system, and I don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said. “Then there are students in the future who aren’t going to have access to certain scholarships. We’re going to change the programming, but surely there’s going to be some programs that are going to be lost that students were benefiting from. So I just feel bad for the students and some of the support structure that they’re losing.”
Zamiya Warner and others who are part of Project S.P.A.R.K. are advocating across campus for organizations like theirs. She said they are much needed on campus in the current climate.
“It’s important for (underrepresented students) to keep seeing that there’s a place for them wherever they go,” Warner said in April. “And that they can do this. I think especially now, a young Black student can be discouraged because they are stating that they don’t want us in these spaces. But there are people like me who are in a space where I can fight and advocate for those students.”