George Mason University eliminated 17 DEI positions after Trump's crackdown.
Over 50 universities scrambled to dismantle their diversity offices before losing federal funding.
But California's woke insanity just crossed one line that has Trump ready to pull the trigger.
President Trump hasn't been shy about using federal power to gut the radical leftist DEI apparatus embedded throughout American universities.
The message from his administration is crystal clear: go woke, go broke.
Columbia University lost $400 million in federal funding after refusing to address campus antisemitism and abandon their woke diversity policies.
George Mason University faced such intense federal scrutiny that officials eliminated 17 DEI-related positions and dissolved their entire Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Over 50 universities now face federal investigation for discriminatory DEI practices.
Yale, Duke, MIT — they're all scrambling.
Universities from the Ivy League to major state schools are frantically dismantling DEI offices, scrubbing diversity requirements from job postings, and eliminating race-based programs.
But California's massive 23-campus public university system isn't backing down.
California Forces Students Through Woke Indoctrination Factory
Nearly every California State University campus requires students to pass at least one diversity and cultural competency class according to Do No Harm, a group that fights identity politics in medicine.
These aren't optional courses students can skip.
They're mandatory graduation requirements — woke gatekeepers standing between students and their diplomas.
San Francisco State University runs the most aggressive indoctrination operation, forcing students to take courses in "American ethnic and racial minorities, environmental sustainability and climate action, global perspectives, and social justice."¹
Students can knock out multiple requirements with classes like "Queer Crip Lit," which examines "connections between ableism and other forms of discrimination, such as racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, and transphobia" in literary works.²
Another multi-requirement option: "Decolonize Your Diet: Food Justice and Gendered Labor in Communities of Color" focusing on "food justice in communities of color addressing issues including sex/gender and food production, racism and attacks on traditional food systems."³
Think about that for a second.
Your kid wants to be an engineer, a nurse, an accountant — doesn't matter.
Before California State University hands over that diploma, students must sit through classes teaching them that America's traditional food systems are racist and that using the wrong pronouns constitutes systemic oppression.
Some Cal State campuses require two DEI courses — one domestic, one international — just to make sure the indoctrination really sinks in.
At Humboldt, students fulfill the domestic requirement with "Decolonizing Public Health," which applies "decolonizing methodologies and anti-racism interventions to analysis of public health frameworks."⁴
The California State University system even published a "Diversity/Inclusivity Style Guide" advising against using "male/man" and "female/woman" since "not everyone falls into those categories."⁵
The guide suggests avoiding terms like "prehistoric" because it "implies an absence of history" and might offend Native Americans.
You can't make this stuff up.
California Doubles Down While Trump Watches
Trump's Education Department sent crystal clear guidance in February warning schools they could lose federal funding for considering race in admissions, scholarships, or any aspect of student life.
Most universities got the message.
Not California.
Cal State spokeswoman Amy Bentley-Smith defended the system's DEI requirements by claiming they "reflect each campus's educational mission and values."⁶
Translation: "We don't care what Trump says. We're doing this anyway."
Laura Morgan, senior director of programs at Do No Harm, didn't mince words about California's calculated defiance.
"The Cal State system is all in on politicized propaganda," Morgan stated.⁷
"These classes are based on concepts that have roots in critical race theory and promote ideology instead of sound learning principles," she continued. "As a taxpayer-funded system, [Cal State] is obligated to prioritize education instead of operating a factory for politically indoctrinated activists."⁸
That's exactly what they're running — a factory for political activists disguised as higher education.
The University of California system — Cal State's sister system — is already under federal investigation by the Trump administration over alleged race-based hiring practices.
California law already mandates that Cal State students complete an "ethnic studies" course to graduate, separate from these DEI requirements.
But apparently one mandatory woke indoctrination class isn't enough for California's radical leftists.
Some campuses pile on even more ideology.
Cal State, East Bay brags that after completing the ethnic studies requirement, students will have "a strong understanding of concepts like white supremacy, critical race theory, and intersectionality."⁹
Other campuses sneak DEI propaganda into otherwise normal courses.
A mandatory oral communications class at Cal State, Dominguez Hills teaches "rhetorical sensitivity to diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and accessibility."¹⁰
They can't even let students learn public speaking without injecting woke ideology.
Only two Cal State schools lack explicit DEI course requirements – and that might be recent.
Both Cal Maritime and Cal State, Monterey Bay removed references to their DEI mission statements and committees from their websites earlier this year as Trump's crackdown intensified.¹¹
California's massive public university system is playing a dangerous game of chicken with the Trump administration.
They're betting taxpayers will keep funding their radical indoctrination operations despite clear federal warnings.
Trump has already proven he's willing to pull billions in federal funding from defiant universities.
California State Universities just made themselves the next target.
¹ Jessica Schwalb, "Cal State Schools Require Students To Take DEI Classes To Graduate," Washington Free Beacon, November 19, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ Ibid.
¹¹ Ibid.
