COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Ohio State University announced its next steps in reviewing the institution’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies, which will include discontinuing the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and modifying scholarships geared toward students of diverse backgrounds.

In a message to students, faculty and staff on Thursday, Ohio State President Ted Carter laid out initial steps to comply with new state and federal directives about higher education. To start, Carter said, the university is closing its Office of Diversity and Inclusion, discontinuing the programming and services under Student Life’s Center for Belonging and Social Change, and renaming the Office of Institutional Equity to the Office of Civil Rights Compliance.

Carter said these decisions will not affect current student scholarships or financial aid. It will modify the eligibility for scholarship programs like the Morrill Scholarship or Young Scholars Program. The Morrill Scholarship is historically awarded to students who will actively engage in diversity-based leadership, and the Young Scholars Program is geared toward first-generation, low-income underrepresented students.

Carter also said the university will work with anyone employed under discontinued departments, student or staff, to find new university employment opportunities. He also confirmed all students would be offered alternative jobs. However, the university acknowledged these decisions will result in some position eliminations.

A university spokesman said 16 positions will be eliminated.

“For impacted staff who are connected to programs that are being discontinued, we will follow our usual practice of working with those individuals to find other opportunities at Ohio State where possible,” the spokesman said.

Carter said the decision came because of federal threats to withdraw funding if DEI programs continued, including a memo from President Donald Trump’s administration with a Friday deadline to eliminate diversity programs. He also said Ohio’s Senate Bill 1, which would ban DEI on college campuses and passed in the Senate on Feb. 12, is making its way through the legislature.

“The Attorney General of Ohio – our statutory counsel – has advised us that his office concurs with the federal government’s position regarding the use of race in educational activities,” Carter said.

Senate Bill 1 has not yet passed in the House of Representatives, and teachers unions are challenging Trump’s directive, alleging it violates the First and Fifth Amendments.

Ohio State’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion oversees the university’s Black cultural center, Bell National Resource Center on the African American Male, Women’s center and a variety of diverse programs geared toward uplifting minority students. It also housed the Morill and Young Scholars programs, which will be transferred to the Office of Academic Affairs.

The Center for Belonging and Social Change offered workshops, grants and networking opportunities to ensure all students live and learn on a welcoming campus, according to its website. According to the website’s “About Us” page, which does not mention diversity, race or gender, the center discussed civic engagement and social change.

Ohio State faculty and students have spoken out against legislation like S.B. 1, telling lawmakers, Ohio State officials, and NBC4 that they felt legislation barring DEI would harm higher education.

“If S.B. 1 succeeds in Ohio, it will embolden politicians everywhere to kill higher education under the guise of ‘neutrality,’” Sabrina Estevez, a second-year student at Ohio State, said. “This is a warning: the fight for academic freedom isn’t just Ohio’s fight, it’s America’s fight.”

Ohio State University College Republicans applauded the decision.

“OSU College Republicans would like to express its full support for the recent changes implemented by President Carter, including the removal of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion,” the organization wrote in a statement. “Providing opportunities and benefits strictly on the basis of race is never acceptable, and this decision is a great step towards achieving a truly merit-based approach that is fair for all individuals, regardless of background.”

“These are difficult conversations, as we knew they would be. All of higher education is facing a challenging environment,” Carter said. “Nonetheless, I continue to believe that the best course for our university is to take actions proactively so that we can manage this new landscape in ways that best uphold the values of excellence, access and opportunity that we hold dear.”

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Center for Belonging and Social Change will both be discontinued starting Friday.

“It’s just a sad day for minorities in general and it’s a sad day for Ohio State,” Ohio State junior political science student Daizhon Cox said.