When the Funding Fades: How Cuts to DEI Resources Threaten Black Greek Life

Across college campuses, the colors, chants, and steps of Divine Nine sororities echo with pride and purpose. These sisterhoods, built on a legacy of excellence and service, offer more than tradition—they are lifelines for young Black women navigating predominantly white institutions (PWIs) and evolving campus climates. But today, many of these lifelines are quietly being threatened.

With Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs under increasing scrutiny and, in some cases, reduction or removal, members of historically Black sororities are feeling the ripple effects—financially, emotionally, and communally.

DEI: A Pillar for Black Greek Life

For decades, DEI offices have supported campus chapters of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Zeta Phi Beta, and Sigma Gamma Rho. They’ve offered safe spaces to host events, funding to travel to conferences, staff mentorship, and crucial advocacy during times of racial tension or institutional oversight.

These resources are more than nice-to-haves. For Divine Nine chapters, DEI support often replaces what predominantly white fraternities and sororities receive from alumni donations, chapter houses, or private endowments. The DEI office is often their only institutional ally.

Shrinking Budgets, Shrinking Spaces

Yet, across the U.S., many universities have restructured, defunded, or dissolved DEI departments in response to political pressure or budget cuts. The impact on Black sorority members is immediate and visceral:

• Event cancellations due to lack of room or AV support
• Loss of travel stipends for leadership development or national conventions
• Fewer wellness programs, peer conflict mediation, or access to Black counselors
• Elimination of DEI-staff liaisons who served as cultural advocates

Without these supports, sorority members must self-fund, self-organize, and self-advocate—all while balancing academics, jobs, and community commitments.

More Than Symbolism: The Loss of Safe Spaces

The erosion of DEI structures creates a deeper wound: the disappearance of safe spaces. At campuses where Black women are already underrepresented, the chapter house isn’t a literal building—it’s a community room, a Zoom link, a corner of the DEI office. When these spaces vanish, so does a vital refuge from microaggressions, bias, and invisibility.

This disappearance can isolate members and undermine the mental health and engagement of young Black women. In extreme cases, it contributes to attrition—not just from sororities, but from institutions altogether.

Resilience Amid Retrenchment

Despite these challenges, Black sororities are adapting. Students are:

• Hosting pop-up events in outdoor spaces or dorm lounges
• Partnering with local alumni chapters for funding and mentorship
• Creating cross-chapter coalitions to advocate for DEI reinvestment
• Utilizing student government channels to protect inclusive programming

Still, such resilience comes at a cost. These young women must navigate both academic rigor and institutional neglect—an exhausting burden when support should be foundational, not optional.

What’s at Stake?

Black Greek life has never simply been about parties and paraphernalia. These organizations incubate future lawyers, doctors, educators, and activists. They create cultural continuity, empower underserved communities, and elevate voices often silenced on campus.

When DEI resources disappear, so does a pipeline for that excellence.

Call to Action

Institutions must recognize that eliminating DEI resources doesn’t “level the playing field”—it razes the entire foundation for those already carrying generational and systemic burdens. If universities truly believe in inclusion, they must fund it.

Because when Black sorority members lose access to support, we don’t just lose events—we lose opportunity, we lose equity, and we risk losing the very soul of campus diversity.