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The Department of Education has clarified that events like Black History Month do not violate its order warning state education departments to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies or risk losing federal funding.

This clarification follows a mid-February letter from the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights to all 50 state education departments, setting a Feb. 28 deadline.

“Title VI prohibits recipients of federal funding from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin,” the guidance states. “Schools may not operate policies or programs under any name that treat students differently based on race, engage in racial stereotyping, or create hostile environments for students of particular races.

“For example, schools with programs focused on interests in particular cultures, heritages, and areas of the world would not in and of themselves violate Title VI, assuming they are open to all students regardless of race,” the department stated. “Nor would educational, cultural, or historical observances – such as Black History Month, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, or similar events – that celebrate or recognize historical events and contributions, and promote awareness, so long as they do not engage in racial exclusion or discrimination.”

“Whether a policy or program violates Title VI does not depend on the use of specific terminology such as ‘diversity,’ ‘equity,’ or ‘inclusion,’” the Feb. 28 guidance also noted.

A February letter from Craig Trainor, the acting assistant secretary for civil rights in the Department of Education, asserted that “Educational institutions have toxically indoctrinated students with the false premise that the United States is built upon ‘systemic and structural racism’ and advanced discriminatory policies and practices.”

“Proponents of these discriminatory practices have attempted to further justify them—particularly during the last four years—under the banner of diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”), smuggling racial stereotypes and explicit race-consciousness into everyday training, programming, and discipline,” he wrote.

“All educational institutions are advised to: (1) ensure that their policies and actions comply with existing civil rights law; (2) cease all efforts to circumvent prohibitions on the use of race by relying on proxies or other indirect means to accomplish such ends; and (3) cease all reliance on third-party contractors, clearinghouses, or aggregators that are being used by institutions in an effort to circumvent prohibited uses of race,” Trainor concluded. “Institutions that fail to comply with federal civil rights law may, consistent with applicable law, face potential loss of federal funding.”

The letter was prompted by President Donald Trump’s executive orders directing agencies to develop a plan to eliminate federal funding for “illegal and discriminatory treatment and indoctrination in K-12 schools, including based on gender ideology and discriminatory equity ideology.” He also issued orders to end DEI programs in federal agencies.

The Department of Education had previously removed mentions of DEI from its documents and websites, placed employees leading DEI initiatives on leave, and dissolved its Diversity & Inclusion Council.

’ Landon Mion contributed to this report.