Editor's note: All opinions, columns and letters reflect the views of the individual writer and not necessarily those of the IDS or its staffers.
For much of the past decade, progressivism has been on a steady rise. Marriage equality became law; climate change entered the mainstream and terms like “equity” and “inclusion” became institutional cornerstones. For many people across the country, it felt like the tide was flowing into a better and more open tomorrow.
However, sometimes the current doesn’t move the way it’s supposed to, as today the United States is in what I like to call “the Great Regression”: a tsunami of reactionary politics pushing back against progress that’s working at a quick rate. This backlash isn’t just on Capitol Hill; it’s unfolding across Indiana University’s campus, other campuses and social media. These policies are impacting people, programs and the lives of students.
This spring, IU closed its Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Its functions were folded into broader student services, and the Office of Institutional Equity was rebranded as the Office of Civil Rights Compliance to emphasize legal compliance over inclusive programming.
Many campus-wide cultural centers were reassigned to the Office of Student Life, raising concerns about a potential decline in support and focus. These changes come after Gov. Mike Braun’s executive order banning DEI initiatives in state agencies and IU’s efforts to align with both federal and state mandates.
The same statewide push has affected academics, too, with legislation changing the number of graduates needed for a degree, which has slated over 100 programs at IU to be axed over time – including several graduate programs. For students and faculty, these are more than just numbers; these are their passions, culture and academic opportunities on our campus.
These local shifts are simply echoing national trends. Across politics, regressions in healthcare, education, culture and sports reflect a counter to change. Conservative leaders such as President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Governor Braun frame the backlash as a good thing and that it’s “restoring merit-based opportunities,” and bringing back tradition, while critics, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Senate Democratic Diversity Initiative, see it as a deliberate rollback of progress.
The regression extends into healthcare (restrictions on reproductive and gender-affirming care), entertainment and sports culture (arguments over transgender athletes and LGBTQ+ characters in media) and academia itself (tenure reforms and suppression of minority voices). Fearmongering and a desire to bring America back to the “good old days” through institutions fuel this momentum.
What’s chilling about The Great Regression is how deeply it has become embedded in the structures meant to promote inclusivity. At IU, policies intended to celebrate diversity are now being restructured to minimize it, even in areas such as bias-reporting protocols, which the Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to this year. Justice Clarence Thomas, in his dissent, said the court will eventually need to resolve a split among lower federal appeals courts on the matter.
Students’ sense of belonging, the availability of identity-affirming resources and the preservation of academic disciplines are tangible casualties. Reorganizing cultural centers, dismantling DEI infrastructure, and disappearing programs disrupt and dismantle the reputation that IU has tried to build for years: being a place where everyone belongs.
Understanding this backlash helps us see it not as an accident, but as an intention. Recognizing it means we can better resist normalization of regression. On campus, that might mean advocating for the return of cultural centers to their original department, pushing back on program cuts or organizing to retain disciplines threatened by elimination.
History shows the tide can always turn back to a better tomorrow, from the Civil Rights movement to Obergefell v. Hodges, to the election of Barack Obama. Progress is not guaranteed; it requires vigilance. As IU students, faculty and members of our community, we stand at a crossroads. Fighting for our future is important, not just for policy or to “stick it to the man,” but for the campus, our different cultures and our collective potential.
Jacob Fry (he/him) is a junior studying political science.
