U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) on Thursday announced he requested U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to begin an investigation into Belmont University following the release of secretly recorded videos which purportedly show the university has continued its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, and shielded the status of illegal immigrants attending classes at the university, in acts of defiance to the Trump administration’s push to end federal funding for DEI.
After a video was published on Tuesday showing Belmont University official Josef Lukey appear to claim the university renamed its DEI office to Hope, Unity, and Belonging (HUB), in order to resume its DEI policies while “navigating in the shadows,” in order to prevent “the feds running in here,” Ogles surfaced a leaked faculty email that Ogles said shows the university had an active DEI committee as recently as April.
Ogles accused the university of potentially violating both federal law and President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14173, suggesting “this rebranding is an intentional effort to deceive federal authorities and continue promoting discriminatory programming under a new name.”
Noting that Belmont is a Christian university, Ogles said, “its administration is injecting anti-gospel DEI ideology into its curriculum,” despite Trump having “rightly demanded that colleges and universities dismantle the DEI cartel or lose federal funding.”
Ogles added, “Belmont officials, however, have been caught on camera bragging about their ‘clever’ scheme to rebrand DEI and continue pushing the same radical agenda under a new name.”
Following an investigation, the congressman said Belmont should lose its federal funding if the allegations are proven true.
“I am demanding a full investigation into Belmont—and, if necessary, a cut to their federal funding. The preservation of faithful Christian education in Middle Tennessee is non-negotiable,” said Ogles.
His letter to McMahon specifically requested the Department of Education review the HUB program at Belmont, “to determine whether its activities differ in substance from the prior DEI program.”
Ogles also asked McMahon to issue additional guidance to clarify “cosmetic name changes constitute non-compliance and will trigger the loss of Title IV eligibility and other federal funding,” and report to Congress whether the alleged DEI rebranding at Belmont is happening elsewhere in the country.
“Belmont is not an isolated case,” wrote Ogles, highlighting American University and Northeastern University, who he said both renamed their DEI offices after Trump’s return to the White House.
Vanderbilt University also quietly scrubbed a web page shortly after Trump began his second term, replacing references to DEI with a commitment to “Belonging, Collaboration, and Growth.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Rep Andy Ogles” by Rep. Andy Ogles and “Belmont University Campus” is by Belmont University.
Jesus didn’t say welcome the foreign strangers and love your neighbors?
We didn’t know what (if anything) he said was properly quoted.
NO FEDERAL TAX DOLLARS SHOULD GO TO ANY UNIVERSITY.
Shut Down all taxfunded programs coming from DC. They all come with Mandates that are Marxist by design. They have nothing to do with improving Teacher Training, or Medical training, etc. They just demand Race or Gender based requirements on hiring of professors or student admissions. Tgey demand woke policies that corrupt young minds into thinking that child porn, grooming, child sex transitions are appropriate for minors. It’s SICK.
PUT A STOP TO THIS MADDNESS.
WHO SITS ON THE BELMONT BOARD OF DIRECTORS. THEY SHOULD BE HELD LIABLE.