The University of Chicago was one of 31 institutions of higher education to end partnerships with the PhD Project, the U.S. Department of Education said in a press release on Thursday morning.
Last March, the Department announced that UChicago was one of 45 schools under civil rights investigation for its partnership with the PhD Project through the Booth School of Business. The PhD Project is a nonprofit organization which promotes diversity in business Ph.D. programs. According to the Office of Civil Rights, it “unlawfully limits eligibility based on the race of participants.”
The universities had “already terminated their relationships with The Ph.D. Project or have agreed in their [resolution agreements] to end their memberships or partnerships,” according to the release. Additionally, “each institution also agreed to conduct a review of their partnerships with external organizations to identify any that violate Title VI by restricting participation based on race.”
In a statement to the Maroon, a University spokesperson said that UChicago “discontinued its engagement with the organization prior to receiving the notice of investigation from the Office for Civil Rights, and takes seriously its obligation to prohibit unlawful discrimination.”
The PhD Project included UChicago on its list of university partners until March 14, 2025, the day the original investigation was announced. The Project removed the list of its partners from its website the following week.
Among the schools that made the agreement were Carnegie Mellon University, Duke University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University, the University of California, Berkeley, and Yale University.
The Department of Education’s investigation last year came shortly after the initiation of a directive that schools could not enact diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies without facing civil rights investigations or the loss of federal funding. A federal court ruled yesterday that the Department could no longer enforce that directive.
In a statement to the Maroon, the PhD Project wrote that their organization “remains focused on our mission to expand the pool of workplace talent by developing business school faculty who inspire, mentor, and support tomorrow’s leaders.”
“Our vision is to create a broader talent pipeline of current and future business leaders who are committed to excellence and to each other, through networking, mentorship, and unique events. The PhD Project was founded with the goal of providing more role models in the front of business classrooms and this remains our goal today,” the statement read.
