Incoming UW president promises continued focus on DEI, despite Trump’s threats

The next leader of the University of Washington says the school's values won't change — even as the Trump administration targets diversity, equity, and inclusion programs on college campuses.

Earlier this week, the UW Board of Regents announced Robert J. Jones will replace current President Ana Mari Cauce in August.

In an interview Thursday, Jones acknowledged he's taking the university's top job at an uncertain time, as President Donald Trump takes aim at DEI.

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Late last month, Trump signed an executive order titled "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing." It calls for the termination of all "discriminatory" and "illegal" DEI and accessibility mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the federal government and federally-funded institutions. If an institution doesn't comply, they may be subject to investigations or lose out on federal funding.

The order is facing legal challenges from the American Association of University Professors, the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, and other groups. And it doesn't have an immediate effect on DEI programs at colleges and universities.

But the order has prompted concerns in the higher education world about ongoing efforts to support historically underrepresented student groups.

Some universities have preemptively started rethinking DEI programs and policies. In states with similar measures already in place, it's led to student cultural centers being closed and changes in diverse hiring practices.

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The issue is personal to Jones, who will become the UW's first Black president when he starts in August.

"I wouldn't be sitting here in this chair talking to you as the next president of this great university if it hadn't been for programs that provided an opportunity for me to prove myself — that I was as good as and bright as anyone else," he said.

Like many university leaders, Jones is still trying to make sense of potential policy changes at the federal level. He's currently finishing his nine-year tenure as president of the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign.

"It's just been really very unsettling," he said. "What we're trying to do is figure out what it all means and how we must respond as higher education institutions in the collective, because we're all in this together."

Regardless, Jones pledged to take a measured approach that balances federal compliance with upholding UW's commitment to equity.

"We won't give up on our values," he said. "We may have to tweak the language that we use a little bit."

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"I don't necessarily like that," he added. "But if that is going to allow us to continue to have the value proposition of equality across gender, race, ethnicity — that's the hallmark of this great nation in which we live, and I don't want to see us do anything to undermine any of that."