Colleges are canceling affinity graduations due to anti-DEI policies. Here is how students are preserving the traditions

By Nicquel Terry Ellis, CNN

(CNN) — Elyse Martin-Smith began meeting with her classmates at Harvard University last summer to plan the annual Black student graduation hosted by a campus group she leads.

The ceremony was set to be a celebration of Black culture, featuring musicians, poetry readings, messages about the historic struggle for racial equality, and a speech by Nikole Hannah-Jones, the creator of the “1619 Project,” Martin-Smith said.

Students had reserved Harvard Memorial Church on campus for the event, she said.

But in early May, Martin-Smith said she received an email from university officials saying she would not be allowed to host the Black graduation on campus.

Harvard is among several universities across the country that have canceled affinity graduations amid threats from President Donald Trump to block medical research funding and revoke accreditation from schools that don’t end diversity, equity and inclusion practices. Trump decries these programs as “illegal and immoral discrimination.”

Affinity graduations are optional events typically led by students to celebrate different student identities and ethnicities. Commonly held ceremonies often honor Black, Hispanic, Asian, first-generation and LGBTQ+ students. Students say the events are significant because they honor the music, apparel, food, history, language and traditions unique to their identity.

Harvard and other elite universities have also clashed with Trump over his demands for crackdowns on student protests, including pro-Palestinian demonstrations and purported antisemitism.

The lost support for affinity graduations — coming just weeks before most universities were set to hold their commencement events — left some students scrambling to find ways to still host the events.

Martin-Smith said she was “disappointed but not surprised” when the school canceled the Black student graduation hosted by her group, Harvard Undergraduate Black Community Leaders.

In late April, Harvard announced it was renaming its diversity, equity, and inclusion office and rescinding all funding from affinity group commencement celebrations. The move came after the Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in federal funding for Harvard when the Ivy League school initially said it would not follow policy demands from the administration.

“This isn’t the first time the university has catered to PR (public relations) concerns rather than student concerns,” Martin-Smith said.

Martin-Smith was determined to hold the Black graduation and spent time between finals study sessions calling venues to secure a space off campus, she said.

She ultimately found a venue and obtained support from the Black Graduate Student Alliance and the Harvard Black Alumni Society. The event will be held on May 27 and will still feature a similar program to the initial event, Martin-Smith said.

“It’s an undue burden that continues to be placed upon Black students to create the change that we want to see,” Martin-Smith said.

Students at the University of Kentucky faced a similar dilemma when the school announced earlier this year it was canceling all affinity graduations.

“Following a number of federal and state policy changes and directives, the university will no longer host identity-based or special-interest graduation celebrations,” university spokesperson Jay Blanton said in a statement. “In the past, these were held outside of our official commencement ceremonies as optional celebrations and social events. We will continue to comply with the law, while celebrating all students and their distinctive achievements at our official commencement ceremonies.”

Kristopher Washington, a University of Kentucky graduate, said he was disappointed to learn that there would no longer be a Black student graduation on campus — an event he had looked forward to throughout his college career.

Washington collaborated with his fraternity brothers from Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. to find an off-campus venue where they could still host a cultural graduation for their peers.

He secured support from the Lyric Theatre & Cultural Arts Center in Lexington, where they held the event dubbed “Senior Salute,” Washington said.

The ceremony was open to all graduates and Washington’s fraternity encouraged students to wear items signifying their identity or culture.

“I feel it’s important to show that there are people coming from other places, underprivileged areas and many different backgrounds and struggles and still making it over to UK (University of Kentucky) and still getting their degree,” Washington said. “It’s a tremendous achievement.”

‘Giving us a space to celebrate’

One expert said graduations celebrating students’ ethnic identities are important because most main commencement celebrations have European roots.

Antar Tichavakunda, an assistant professor of race and higher education at the University of California, Santa Barbara, pointed out that “Pomp and Circumstance” — a song commonly played at graduations — is by English composer Edward Elgar. He also noted that the tradition of wearing graduation gowns originated in Europe during medieval times.

Many Black graduations have embraced Black culture by incorporating West African drums, strolling by Black Greek letter organizations, and featuring guest speakers who understand the Black experience, Tichavakunda said.

“Giving us a space to celebrate like we’d like to and not be policed, play music that feels more affirming and culturally responsive in a smaller setting really just makes that moment of completing a degree that much sweeter,” said Tichavakunda, who is also author of “Black Campus Life: The Worlds Black Students Make at a Historically White Institution.”

“It definitely speaks to pride and not having to dim part of your identity to be palatable to others.”

‘We stand up and stand strong’

Members of the LGBTQ+ community have also seen their traditional Lavender Graduations canceled at schools across the country due to anti-DEI policies at both the state and federal levels.

Last year, Utah Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed a bill banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs from higher education, the public education system and government employers.

Jacey Thornton, executive director of Project Rainbow Utah, said that the law led to the closure of resource centers focused on gender, race and identity at colleges and universities. It also meant that universities would no longer support the Lavender Graduations that celebrate the achievements of LGBTQ+ graduates.

Thornton said Project Rainbow helped LGBTQ+ students at Weber State University and the University of Utah find ways to gather with their community.

For example, Thornton said Project Rainbow sponsored an event at a church for the University of Utah’s LGBTQ+ community where they hung pride flags and graduates wore the lavender stoles and rainbow tassels that are traditionally worn at Lavender Graduations on college campuses. Students from Westminster University and Salt Lake Community College were also invited, she said.

It’s important for LGBTQ+ students to be able to celebrate their graduation in a space where they feel welcome and embraced, Thornton said, who graduated with a master of social work from Weber State this spring.

“We are holding space to celebrate the obstacles we have overcome as queer people,” Thornton said. “It’s important that we stand up and stand strong. A lot of us lose biological family in the process of transitioning or coming out as queer. This supports that space for us to come together and find a new chosen family.”

Tichavakunda said universities’ withdrawal of support from affinity groups signals to students that they should consider schools that fully embrace their identity and offer programs to help them navigate college. For Black students, he recommended considering HBCUs.

Students who choose to attend universities despite the loss of DEI practices will need to work harder to preserve cultural traditions, Tichavakunda said.

“For future classes, I think this administration is forcing students and faculty to think creatively beyond the university and work around it,” he said. “But I don’t think this will be the end of culturally specific graduations. I just think it might be the end of universities supporting them.”

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