A coalition of student‑affairs leaders and national associations alerted campuses that the U.S. Department of Education withdrew its appeal of a 2025 court ruling, leaving the Department’s February 2025 Dear Colleague letter on DEI without force. ACPA’s open letter framed the withdrawal as restoring clarity for equity‑centered programs while warning that state and local constraints still complicate work on diversity, inclusion and belonging. The development arrives amid broader federal‑level debates over accountability in higher education; conservative policy groups have pushed alternate oversight frameworks that would expand state roles in policing institutions. Campus leaders must now reconcile renewed federal latitude on DEI with aggressive state reporting and accountability demands.