UVA staff members filmed in video explaining DEI program rebranding strategy

This story is part of Fox News Digital’s investigative series Campus Radicals. Get the full series here.

FIRST ON FOX: Several University of Virginia staff members were caught on video in a video openly explaining their efforts to continue promoting diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the school by simply renaming them to avoid scrutiny or a potential loss of federal funds.

“We had to change the names of some of our programs and everything, like we had Queer Brunch, we can’t call it Queer Brunch anymore, you have to call it Cozy Brunch, so we changed the name to this, like, we had a program in the Latinx Student Center called Comida Comunidad, it’s like community and friends, and we had to change the name of that to just food and community now,” Davon Lewis, Multicultural Student Services program coordinator, explained in a video obtained by Fox News Digital.

“So we’re doing the same things, but like changing the names a little bit, so like it doesn’t result in control over the office and that sort of thing.”

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University of Virginia staff members were filmed explaining how they continue their work at DEI under different names. A school spokesperson said staff did not speak on behalf of the university. (Getty/Perry Spring; Fox News Digital)

Universities across the country have faced pressure to rein in DEI initiatives after the Trump administration began seeking to rid DEI from the federal government, military and education system, arguing that it promotes discrimination and favoritism instead of a system based on meritocracy.

Fox News Digital has reported several examples in states like Utah, Iowa And North Carolinawhere universities seem to be doubling down on DEI and simply renaming it.

“We just have to do a lot more, like we have to market differently to multiple outlets,” Lewis explained. “There are many things to do, but we are doing the same work.“

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When asked if implementing DEI at UVA was simply changing the name to avoid trouble, Lewis responded with a laugh, “Yes.”

Asia, a UVA student, is seen in the video explaining that there were concerns about “some kind of anti-Semitism,” putting air quotes about anti-Semitism with her fingers, and noted that the school’s president was ousted in June following DEI concerns from the Trump administration.

Asia says in the video that “now all of our affinity programs are basically finding ways to go, sort of, under the radar.”

“We didn’t actually get rid of our programs and that sort of thing, but we just renamed them.”

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The University of Virginia campus. (Daxia Rojas/AFP via Getty Images)

Kamell Minor, a programs intern at the school, said the university is in a “strange place.”

“All the staff here are really working to try to find ways to maintain programming and hold events. We just have to be a little more careful.”

Last week, about a month after the video was filmed, the Trump administration said made an agreement with the University of Virginia demanding that the school adopt its legal views on diversity, equity and inclusion in exchange for a pause in civil rights investigations and continued eligibility for federal funding.

The agreement, made public by the Justice Department, marks the first time a state university has reached an agreement with the Trump administration as part of its broader campaign to pressure top U.S. universities in the face of pro-Palestinian student protests and policies aimed at increasing diversity that the administration has condemned as discriminatory.

“The new interim president said our mission is still the same, we just have to, like the political winds are going to do this, that, that there, but, like UVA’s mission is the same,” Lewis says in the video.

Fox News Digital reached out to UVA to ask if they could allay concerns that DEI would continue to be implemented at the same pace, given the eagerness of staff in the video to cover up these efforts.

“Thank you for sharing this,” a university spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “It goes without saying that these individuals share their own views and do not represent the official policies or positions of the University.”

“Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions and the issuance of related guidance from the federal administration, the University has initiated a comprehensive review of our policies and procedures to ensure that all of our programs are operating in accordance with the law. As part of this review, we have made numerous changes to make it absolutely clear that UVA does not discriminate on the basis of race or any other characteristic, and that all spaces, events and programs are open to everyone. necessary.”

The spokesperson added that the video was taken “several weeks” before the DOJ agreement and that “the content captured had no relation to the agreement.”

Protesters in Michigan are rallying against President Donald Trump’s anti-DEI policies, denouncing federal rollbacks on diversity, equity and inclusion programs. (Dominic Gwinn/Getty Images)

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“The agreement in question suspends five Department of Justice investigations and commits the University to following DOJ guidance on U.S. civil rights laws, provided they are consistent with court decisions,” the spokesperson said. “The University is committed to honoring this agreement. If you would like more details on how it works, you can visit our FAQ page.”

In March, in a movement praised by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the University of Virginia Board of Visitors have voted to disband the school’s Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) and Community.

As DEI continues to face increased scrutiny from academia, government and businesses, Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research. told Fox News Digital earlier this year, these entities won’t give up DEI without a fight and will instead begin rebranding existing efforts.

“It’s exactly the same toxic nonsense in a new package, and they’re just hoping to expand the situation, because a lot of these people, I would say most of the people who work at DEI, are useless,” Hild told Fox News Digital.

Reuters contributed to this report.