The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) announced on Tuesday that, in collaboration with the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, and the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, it has filed a lawsuit to block what it describes as “unlawful and unconstitutional DEI executive orders that threaten academic freedom and access to higher education for all.”

The lawsuit contends that Trump’s orders exceed his legal authority, are overly vague, and fail to define crucial terms such as “DEI” (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and “equity.”

Without clear definitions, these orders could negatively impact more than 130 colleges and universities in the United States with endowments exceeding $1 billion.

The AAUP’s membership includes numerous academic professionals on diversity-related topics.

This group encompasses faculty who teach courses centered on specific racial or ethnic identities—such as Black, Latino, and Asian studies—and those who address equity-related subjects and rely on federal grants to support their research.

“The elimination of DEI programs and initiatives at public academic institutions are a threat to the democratic purposes of higher education as a public good,” said AAUP President Todd Wolfson. “The AAUP is proud to stand up and defend our campuses and communities from this vague and destructive executive order.”

The association’s recent statement, “On Eliminating Discrimination and Achieving Equality in Higher Education,” focuses on diversity in faculty employment and provides an integrated understanding of how to move toward the broader goal of inclusion and equality in higher education.

According to AAUP, that statement was influenced by the AAUP’s 1973 report Affirmative Action in Higher Education, which sets forth a vision of faculty diversity to enable colleges and universities “to become the institutions that they purport to be—that is, institutions that serve the public good through the excellence of their faculty and the reliability and integrity of their standards in faculty recruitment, hiring, and promotions,” as stated in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Criteria for Faculty Evaluation.

“In the United States, there is no king,” the lawsuit states. “The President can exercise only those powers the Constitution grants to the executive, and only in ways that do not violate the rights the Constitution grants to the American people. In his crusade to erase diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility from our country, President Trump cannot usurp Congress’s exclusive power of the purse, nor can he silence those who disagree with him by threatening them with the loss of federal funds and other enforcement actions.”

In related news, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research, announced that studies scheduled for publication in the official journal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), such as weekly morbidity and mortality reports, had been halted.

The order stipulates that “any document intended for publication must be reviewed and approved by a presidential official.” In addition, an email from the Department of Health instructed the immediate suspension of all CDC-funded programs and activities related to “gender ideology.”