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Faculty members said the websites became inaccessible at about 7 p.m. Tuesday, replaced by a webpage that stated: “We’re sorry, but only authorized personnel are allowed to access this page.�

Then, starting Wednesday, the websites take users to an error notice that says, “This site can’t be reached.� However, student and diversity organizations’ websites such as African American Student Affairs, Native American Student Affairs, Asian Pacific American Student Affairs, LGBTQ Affairs, the Women and Gender Resource Center and more were still accessible as of Wednesday afternoon.

The DEI office falls under the provost’s office. Ron Marx, UA’s interim provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, and Jennifer Hatcher, vice provost of diversity and inclusion and UA’s chief inclusion officer, did not respond to a request for comment.

“We are taking a measured approach toward ensuring compliance with new policies and procedures that will impact higher education institutions in the coming weeks and months,â€� UA spokesperson Mitch Zak said in a statement to the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥. “As a public institution, we will continue to adhere to all applicable laws at the local, state, and federal levels. We will continue to uphold our university commitment to fostering a campus environment where everyone can thrive as we advance our academic, research, and service missions.â€�

He did not respond to specific questions, including whether the UA plans to take more websites down, or whether it has paused the work of its Office of DEI.

Alex Morey, vice president for campus advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), said she understands the pressure on universities from the numerous Trump administration orders and what she called a chaotic atmosphere.

However, she said, “Students and faculty have the same expressive rights to teach and discuss DEI-related issues as they’ve always had,â€� under the First Amendment. “W³ó²¹³Ù we can’t say for sure is whether that type of protected expression might nonetheless draw unwanted attention from the federal government. FIRE is working hard to get clarity from this administration so we can pass that information along.â€�

The change in access to UA’s DEI website came a day after UA President Suresh Garimella said the university will inventory its diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility-related programs, jobs and activities and will assess their impact.

Garimella’s statement followed a Friday letter the U.S. Department of Education sent to universities, deeming race-conscious programming, admissions, financial aid, hiring, training and more to be illegal discrimination, and pledging to withhold their federal funding. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20 targeting DEI programs.

Nolan Cabrera, a UA professor of educational policy studies and practice, said of taking the websites down: “It’s cowardice, pure and simple, and if the university thinks that by doing this, it’s going to prevent more attacks, they’re just going to invite more. ... The current (Trump) administration is in the middle of an all-out attack on higher education.�

“There are plenty of universities that receive federal funding ... who have said that that’s broad overreach and we’re going to keep our DEI initiatives and we’re going to battle it out in the courts.�

Cabrera said if the UA administration isn’t fighting the Trump administration’s attacks on higher education now, it isn’t going to in the future.

Zak did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Cabrera’s criticism.

Morey said, “Fears over federal funding cuts or congressional investigations may incentivize universities to err on the side of overcompliance, where they’re not just shutting down their own DEI office, but telling students, for example, that they can’t have DEI-type clubs, or telling faculty to take DEI-concepts out of syllabi. The latter examples would be unconstitutional for a public university to mandate.�

“W³ó²¹³Ù is pretty clear is that we’re seeing DEI offices around the country closing and websites going down or being rebranded. We’re seeing DEI-type programs that have been very popular being cancelled, because government money is no longer being spent on that,â€� she said.

Vanessa Perry, a UA faculty member in the College of Education, said she understands that university administrators are in an impossible situation. They could bravely stand, she said, in their commitment to DEI and deal with the fallout and risk losing federal funding, or they could be seen as champions for underrepresented communities but have no financial means with which to serve them.

“My estimation is that UA is taking a road somewhere in between, removing public-facing information about DEI resources and ‘rebranding,’ shielding DEI resources and cultural centers from external scrutiny and making it possible for them to continue serving their communities in the shadows,� said Perry.

“I am concerned that the people who rely on these services will no longer be able to find them in their new coded language. These moves by UA administration speak to the fear that has gripped all of us as we try to deal with the outcomes of Trump’s executive orders.�

In October 2023, the conservative Goldwater Institute, which advocates for limited government, legally challenged a UA mandate for students to take two courses centered around diversity and equity in order to graduate.

Matt Beienburg, director of education policy at Goldwater, said Wednesday, “As a public institution, the University of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ should have been promoting intellectual diversity this entire time, rather than fomenting division and resentment through the identity politics of DEI. There is a profound difference between ensuring the freedom of speech for students and faculty on campus, and actively expending taxpayer resources in support of a particular ideology as the university’s DEI resources have done. It is especially inexcusable that the University of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ has forced taxpayers and students to spend tens of millions of dollars subsidizing mandatory DEI-based coursework at the same time as it has failed to maintain even basic stewardship of its budget in recent years.â€�

“After years of promoting race-based discrimination and identify politics under the guise of DEI, it is clear that universities across the country are taking seriously the warnings from President Trump that such discrimination will no longer be tolerated,� he said.

Leila Hudson, the chair of the faculty at UA, said elected faculty officers are working to ascertain how the UA’s new administration — Garimella started his role on Oct. 1 — is responding to the various directives from federal agencies.

“The administration appears to be complying with the directives out of prudence, and we agree that it is appropriate for them to be engaged with government and to develop an accurate understanding of our university’s exposure in this new political moment, should those directives be upheld in the courts,� Hudson wrote in a statement to the Star.

“However, the campus community is eager to see President Garimella uphold and defend our values, our work, and our commitment to student success, workforce development, and knowledge production from partisan or ideologically based attacks. Our work is and should be above and beyond partisan wrangling,� she said.

Kelly Benjamin, an American Association of University Professors spokesperson, said of UA’s action, “This is a clear sign of obedience to illegal political interference in higher education. Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives exist to provide a fair shake in U.S. society for those who have, for the majority of this country’s existence, been denied equal access to higher education, high-paying jobs, and just and fair treatment under the law. The removal of these sites and resources sends a clear message to students that the University of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ is bending over to threats and intimidation from those dead set on returning to prejudices of the past where just and fair treatment under the law is a myth.â€�