As the Trump administration has taken aim at some higher learning institutions, DePaul President Rob Manuel is reaffirming the university’s commitment to building communities, protecting students, providing funding and maintaining diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. 

In an interview with student media on Friday, Sept. 12, he also noted that while freshman and transfer enrollment has risen, a significant decline in international student enrollment is creating financial challenges.

The Department of Education announced on Sept. 10 it would end or reprogram all discretionary funding for Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) grant programs which are deemed “unconstitutional.” DePaul is an Asian American and Native Pacific Islander Serving Institution, and has been working to reach Hispanic Serving Institution status. 

According to Manuel, DePaul does not receive federal funding from MSI programs. He said the funds DePaul receives are not from MSI grants and the recent announcement will not cause financial issues. 

All efforts to support students are to ensure they feel welcome, not to gain federal funding, he said.

“The more important thing is that we need to serve and make sure every student here has a path to success, and that includes every population that we have here,” Manuel said. “But we didn’t do it because we were going to get money from the federal government. We did it because it connects with our mission and it serves all of the students in the population we have on campus.” 

“And we’ll do that within the law,” he said.

DePaul had 4,321 Hispanic students enrolled in fall quarter 2024, 3,519 of which were undergraduate students, according to the DePaul census data. In order to qualify for Hispanic Serving Institution status, a school must reach 25% Hispanic undergraduate enrollment. In fall 2024, DePaul reached 24.8%.

In December 2024, DePaul announced it was nearing HSI status and would continue its efforts to make that happen. Even with potential cuts from the Department of Education, Manuel seems set on maintaining momentum.

“We are, by the numbers, HSI … if you’re going after it just because you’re going to get funded, that’s not really the good spirit of this work,” Manuel said. “If you go after it to serve your population, that won’t stop. Right?”

Funding for federal TRIO programs has been targeted by Trump within the last year. Manuel, however, says that it has been “re-upped” at DePaul. 

“We need it, we want it, and it’s very helpful, but the conversation for us is not necessarily that we’re doing it because of the funding. Again, we’re doing it because of our mission,” he said.

Finding a balance between community needs and the Vincentian mission also plays a role in the university’s handling of diversity, equity and inclusion, he added. 

Frequent federal changes pushed Manuel into doing a review of “things that are now illegal to have preferential treatments,” like certain scholarships and admissions policies.

Now, DePaul’s Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity, Student Affairs at DePaul and the Division of Mission and Ministry are focusing more on support for students through programming, student education, faculty development and more.

That focus could help protect programs like DePaul’s TRiO Student Support Services since the university would not need to depend on dollars coming from the federal government, he said.

“Our approach is to make sure that anybody we accept has a path to graduation and a path to life chances that they wouldn’t have had,” Manuel said.

The decrease in international enrollment is part of a trend seen across the United States in recent months, given the difficulty of obtaining a visa and the Trump administration’s revocation of student visas for minor violations without allowing an opportunity to contest the allegations, prompting lawsuits.

Manuel has previously noted the decreasing international student enrollment has placed financial strain on DePaul. The university is discussing how to manage the financial change and continue educating students. He said there will not be specific plans to handle the reduction until the 2025-26 census comes out. 

Some students have expressed concerns about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers on campus and around the city. Additionally, Trump previously threatened to deploy National Guard troops in Chicago. 

Manuel said DePaul is working to keep students informed about their rights and available resources. He also noted that Public Safety officers, resident assistants and residence directors are going through training and education to help students. 

“My sense is that’s not enough, though, that we need to figure out how to help everybody craft their own plan of action, because there’s tons of different ways we could encounter ICE (out in the community),” Manuel said. 

Similarly, other public-facing student employees should have guidelines about what to do in situations that involve ICE. There’s a need to develop more community, rather than just displaying links to resources, Manuel said.

The best advice he has to offer, he said, was to utilize resources and form plans with others on campus. Those more thoroughly trained, like the Office of General Counsel (DePaul’s lawyer) and Public Safety, can also assist students if they call with concerns, such as if ICE asks to access restricted areas on campus.

Concerns have been building regarding academic freedom for students and the ability to speak their minds. The issue has grown during Trump’s presidency, in which he has frozen billions in funding from universities that the administration says are promoting antisemitism. Manuel testified in front of Congress on May 7 for a hearing on antisemitism on campus.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression gave DePaul an “F” grade for its campus speech climate, ranking 220 out of 257 schools. This grade is based on a survey done by College Pulse which assesses students’ perception of campus speech climate, campus speech policies and behavior by faculty, administrators and students during a speech controversy on campus. 

Manuel said he believes free speech is alive and well at DePaul. He said the university balances free speech with policies that allow different perspectives to coexist. 

“I’m very comfortable with the fact that anybody here can take their freedom of speech and do what they want with it, but that we have policies and guidelines to make sure that it is not affronting to other areas that are here.”

This story was updated to clarify information.

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