The U.S. State Department released a memo on November 17 recommending that universities “openly engage in DEI hiring practices” should be excluded from the Diplomacy Lab, a program that connects university researchers with department policy offers from the state, according to The Guardian.
Johns Hopkins University, Stanford University and Yale University are among the list with USC. These colleges are set to be removed from participating in the Diplomacy Lab on Jan. 1, 2026.
The memo does not provide further details on how the universities employ DEI in their hiring processes.
“USC hasn’t had any kind of affirmative action admission since the Supreme Court ruled it to be unconstitutional back in 2023 and our only remaining diversity and inclusion policy related to hiring is about veterans preference and accommodations for people with disabilities,” said Kristen Aanstoos, an assistant professor of political science and international relations at USC Dornsife.
The memo stated that the office within the state department’s bureau of public affairs will only focus on including institutions that follow “merit-based hiring practices,” The Guardian reported. Once the removal of certain institutions is approved, the state department will send letters notifying those schools.
“Government funding should be allocated based on scientific merit and research quality, and pulling universities from a program for no good scientific reason leads to bad research and bad politics,” said Christian Grose, the academic director at the USC Schwarzenegger Institute. “USC being in this list of 30+ of the world’s top universities being unfairly targeted is a sign USC is doing something right.”
A state department spokesperson said, “The Trump Administration is very clear about its stance on DEI. The State Department is reviewing all programs to ensure that they are in line with the President’s agenda,” in a statement to The Guardian.
The USC Viterbi School of Engineering was selected as a partner institution by the U.S. Department of State in 2019.
This new decision to remove some institutions from participating in the Diplomacy Lab mirrors past attacks on DEI from the Trump administration. Previously, Trump gave universities an April 21 deadline to remove programs that required DEI practices, and threatened to restrict their access to federal student aid if they did not comply.
The Diplomacy Lab’s website includes archived content that was released from Jan. 20, 2021 to Jan. 20, 2025. It noted a range of goals and initiatives with academic partners.
“The [Diplomacy Lab] benefits from a diverse range of academic institutions, each bringing its unique strengths and insights to the table,” the archived website states. “[It] harnesses the expertise and fresh perspective of students and faculty members across the nation to conduct research on key foreign policy topics.”
The website also includes highlights from past research projects, including climate change, women’s rights and international studies. The website dedicated solely to the Diplomacy Lab is now removed.
USC has been in public diplomacy studies since the Center for Public Diplomacy was established in 2003. CPD is known for being a research and training organization “dedicated to enriching the study and practice of public diplomacy in pursuit of a more peaceful and prosperous world,” according to their website.
“This is extremely short-sighted, because the schools that were named as being cut are ones with the absolute foremost programs on diplomacy and foreign policy in the country and the world, including the USC Center of Public Diplomacy,” Aanstoos said.
USC PR did not respond in time for publication on the university’s plan moving forward.