Ex-DOJ civil rights chief: Sessions and DeVos are pushing a ‘hostile’ vision for students of color

The former head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division is sharply criticizing the Trump administration for reportedly acting to roll back a series of guidelines promoting diversity in college admissions.

{mosads}Vanita Gupta, who served as the chief civil rights prosecutor for the U.S. under former President Obama, issued a statement after it was reported that Sessions would roll back the Justice Department guidance, according to ABC News.

Gupta, current president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, accused Sessions and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos of pushing a “vision of America that is particularly hostile to students of color.”

“In furtherance of its agenda of intolerance and discrimination, the Trump administration is once again failing in its responsibility for the wellbeing of all students by tossing aside diversity and inclusion — core American values,” Gupta said.

Sessions announced Tuesday that he would rescind a total of 24 guidances that he deemed “unnecessary, outdated, inconsistent with existing law, or otherwise improper,” including measures on college admissions, refugees and asylum-seekers.

Gupta pushed back on Sessions’s reported move, saying that it will “impact all students,” and called on educators nationwide to continue advancing “diversity and equal opportunity for all children” anyway.

“Diverse campuses play an integral part in how our students collaborate and thrive,” she said.