Proposed changes to Policy 6:001 on Equal Opportunity, Harassment and Nondiscrimination have left the students, faculty and staff of Austin Peay State University concerned for the school’s future and the safety of its LGBTQ+ community members. APSU President Michael Licari issued a school-wide email on March 14 that clarified the policy changes, but did not directly link Policy 6:001 nor did it specify the “guidance” the university received on the issue. 

So, what actually changed?

The Policy Statement on the very first page was subject to a significant change in phrasing: “It is the policy of Austin Peay State University…to affirm its commitment to promoting the goals of fairness and equity in all aspects of the educational program or activity…” where “the goals of fairness and equity” was removed and replaced with “and championing access.” 

 All references to the Office of Equity Access, & Inclusion were changed to the Office of Institutional Culture, reflecting the 2023 renaming (although the 2024 issue retained the original title). Similarly, the Director of Equal Opportunity & Affirmative Action/Deputy Title IX Coordinator was changed by replacing “Affirmative Action” with “Investigator.” 

This abandonment of the word “equity” repeats throughout the markup, reflecting the Trump Administration’s belief that “discriminatory equity ideology” (as defined in executive order 14190) needs to be eliminated in federal offices and places that receive federal funding.

Importantly, multiple references to gender identity and sexual orientation were omitted from Policy 6:001. One such removal was following a list of protected identities at APSU. The statement goes, “Austin Peay State University does not discriminate against any employee, applicant for employment, student, or applicant for admission on the basis of:” before listing categories such as age, race and religion. The omitted identities were “gender expression,” “gender identity” and “sexual orientation.” 

And why?

Licari’s school-wide email was particularly vague about the why behind these policy changes. A look at the Trump Administration and federal pushback against Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) provides clear context to what is happening at APSU. 

In April 2024, the Department of Education issued a Final Rule that redefined the boundaries of Title IX enforcement by including sexual orientation and gender identity in its definition of discrimination. However, a January 2025 ruling out of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, State of Tennessee v. Cardona, blocked this change and forced a reversion back to the 2020 Title IX regulations. 

Further, President Trump’s executive order entitled Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Biological Truth to the Federal Government requires that all agencies within the Executive Branch “enforce all sex-protective laws to promote [the] reality” that there are only two sexes, male and female, and that, “These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”

Thus, the changes to policy 6:001 from the University Policy Committee are a reflection of policy shifts at the federal level and statements made by the Department of Education. As of now, the updates to 6:001 are still pending approval. 

The University Policy Committee meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 3:30 p.m. All members of the APSU community, including “administrators, faculty members, staff members or students” are able to propose new policies or policy updates using the New Policy Template found on the APSU Policy page.