Leaked videos released on Tuesday purportedly show Belmont University officials reveal their plan to avoid scrutiny from the Trump administration by renaming Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and by concealing the existence of students who immigrated to the United States illegally.
The videos, first published by Town Hall, appear to show Josef Lukey, the Belmont University Assistant Director of Student Access and Flourishing, describe how the university has worked to avoid federal scrutiny while continuing their advocacy for controversial programs targeted by President Donald Trump through executive orders.
“The work never stops, we just changed on how we talk about it,” said Lukey in the June 6 video. He added that those impacted by the Trump administration’s push against DEI, “try to just adapt to what’s happening around us,” and stated, “that doesn’t mean, like, what we’re focusing on completely stops.”
Lukey additionally stated in the video, “We definitely have to navigate very carefully, and very cautiously, because we just don’t ever know, especially with the ICE raids that are happening in the city. That impacts our campus.”
He then confirmed that Belmont University administrators have knowingly enrolled students who are in the country illegally, and suggested that faculty members would be unable to glean such information from the university’s internal systems.
🚨SCOOP: Leaked recordings from Belmont University in Red State Tennessee show that school officials are trying to trick the Trump administration by simply renaming their DEI program to HUB (Hope, Unity, and Belonging) while changing nothing.
In the recordings, assistant… pic.twitter.com/mBlVlFYWys
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) July 16, 2025
While Town Hall noted that the university announced its DEI office would be relocated to the university’s Office of Hope, Unity, and Belonging (HUB), Lukey appeared to suggest that HUB was specifically created to avoid federal scrutiny.
“The HUB is Hope, Unity, and Belonging. That’s DEI, let’s be real,” said Lukey in the video. “It’s just higher ed right now, that is just the trend across the nation.”
Lukey stated in another part of the video that HUB will help students understand, “how can you be involved with those things without, like, the feds running in here.”
The Belmont official later appeared to summarize the university’s strategy, stating, “if you’re navigating in the shadows, nobody’s paying attention to Belmont.”
Belmont is not the first Tennessee university to appear to have changed or removed its DEI office in light of Trump’s executive orders, which seek to pull federal funding from universities and research that promote DEI.
Vanderbilt University, just weeks after Trump began his second term in the White House, quietly scrubbed a web page titled “Our Commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion,” removing all reference to DEI.
The Vanderbilt website was updated to instead reflect the university’s commitment to “Belonging, Collaboration, and Growth.”
“Once you are a member of this community, we want to make sure you have what you need to thrive and succeed,” said Vanderbilt on the web page formerly devoted to DEI. “We understand that thriving looks different for everyone, which is why we provide resources to meet the physical, emotional, social and intellectual needs of our community.”
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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 “Belmont University” by Belmont University.
Wonderful to see Belmont living up to its historical Baptist dissenter roots! May God continue to bless them.
I am sorry to say I went to this sh!t-hole school in the 90’s, it was bad then with leftists professors and I have never supported this blight of a “christian school” since I (cough…cough … graduated there) because they are full of hate for conservatives. I hope they are prosecuted and defunded- to you leftists bastards, hate is a two way street and you shall soon feel the affects you GD SOB’s!!!
HUB = Hypocritical Underhanded Bullshit
DEI = Didn’t Earn It.
DEI and HUB are simply anti-White racism and anti-Asian racism – reverse discrimination. Enough already!
When are we going to start seeing arrests. Hiding an illegal alien is breaking the law. The same law that has been on the books for how many decades now? The DOJ can get a two for one if they would actually arrest someone.
Belmont is also supposed to be a Christian college that follows the lead of the Lord Jesus! Unreal!!! What they are doing is what we now call “progressive christianity”!
Another historical institution that use to graduate productive Christians to enter the American workforce.
These institutions lost their independence when they agreed to take Federal funds to “Fundamentally transform America” during the Marxist President Barrack Hussein Obama.
Vanderbilt same.
Both Universities have gone WOKE using taxpayer dollars.
They are no different than NPR/PBS Propadagnda Rags.
What Federal Agency funds these Marxist programs.
DEFUND the Marxism & PROSECUTE those who refuse to follow Federal Law.
I am so sick & tired of my money going to this trash.
This is going to be awesome when the DOJ brings down the thunder on this “school.”
When are we going to start seeing arrests. Hiding an illegal alien is breaking the law. The same law that has been on the books for how many decades now? The DOJ can get a two for one if they would actually arrest someone.
defund