Editor’s Note: This article discusses the complaint letter about Gettysburg College filed by the Young America’s Foundation to the Department of Education. For more coverage, see our previous article here.
By Vincent DiFonzo, Editor-in-Chief
The non-profit conservative advocacy group Young America’s Foundation (the national organization which also operates Young Americans for Freedom student chapters, including one at Gettysburg), filed a complaint against Gettysburg College to the Department of Education alleging ongoing civil rights violations against federal law. The complaint was filed by general counsel Madison Hahn and sent to the agency’s Office of Civil Rights (OCE) on Monday and argues the College is violating Title VI, Title IX and several recent Trump administration executive orders.
But wait, wasn’t the Department of Education just shut down via executive order? Is there even an Education Department to complain to?
Legally, President Donald Trump cannot shut down the Education Department by himself, which was founded in 1979 by Congress. Only Congress can shut the agency down.
Since January, Trump has cut the Education Department’s staff by over half, including significant cuts at the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the office that the Young America’s Foundation (YAF) complaint was sent to. The White House has stated that the OCR will continue to function, however, despite its heavy staffing cuts.
Trump’s executive order, signed Thursday, directs the Department of Education to “return authority over education to the States and local communities while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.” The order specifically directs the agency to guarantee “the allocation of any Federal Department of Education funds.”
“[Trump’s executive order] is political theater, not serious public policy,” Ted Mitchell, the president of the American Council on Education, stated to The New York Times. “To dismantle any cabinet-level federal agency requires congressional approval, and we urge lawmakers to reject misleading rhetoric in favor of what is in the best interests of students and their families.”
However, some of the Education Department’s functions will move to other federal agencies. The Small Business Administration will be taking over administration of federal student aid while the Health and Human Services Department will take over nutrition and special needs.
The Gettysburgian reached out to the student chapter of Young Americans for Freedom on Thursday for comment on the letter of complaint and is still waiting for a reply to our questions. Meanwhile, the Gettysburg College Democrats and College Republicans have both released statements in response to the letter of complaint.
“Gettysburg College Republicans does not support the recent actions taken by the Gettysburg chapter of YAF,” they wrote on Instagram. “While the College Republicans stand for conservative principles, we reject the notion that conservative students are oppressed or have been silenced on campus.”
“We may not agree with every policy enacted by the college, but we see value in encouraging dialogue between those who fundamentally disagree,” their statement continues. “We are proud of the work our organization completed this past fall, writing a joint statement with the Gettysburg College Democrats, and are committed to continuing open-minded discourse moving forward.”
In a post to Instagram on Friday evening, Gettysburg College Democrats stated their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
“To our campus community, our identity-based student organizations, and anyone feeling targeted and disturbed by the Presidential Administration’s white supremacist, anti-woman, anti-veteran, anti-working class, anti-LGBTQIA+ exclusionary policies, we stand with you,” they wrote.
“We also wanted to state flatly that Gettysburg students have enjoyed equal access to conservative and progressive voices. Our vast array of student clubs are not ‘civil rights violations,’” they wrote, quoting the YAF letter of complaint.
March 24, 2025
We appreciate the efforts Gettysburg College is making to stick to its principles of higher education and diversity, equity and inclusion for all students. Its’ a challenging time, but colleges and universities need to fight for what right in our education system and our country.