The Wharton School's undergraduate concentration and MBA major in diversity, equity, and inclusion were both renamed to Leading Across Differences.
The name change comes in the wake of a comprehensive removal of references to DEI from Penn's websites and schools — including Wharton — following an executive order from 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump that required federally funded universities such as Penn to end any DEI programs that could be in violation of federal civil rights laws. According to website archives, the change was made sometime after March 16.
"The new name reflects the broader scope of the concentration/major following the addition of new courses and conveys its core intent, which is to teach students how to effectively work with and lead people with different perspectives and backgrounds," a Wharton spokesperson wrote to The Daily Pennsylvanian.
Affected students have been contacted about the changes to the programs, according to the spokesperson, who declined to comment on whether federal policy changes influenced the decision.
Sites for both programs no longer list “anthropology, cultural/diaspora-related studies, gender, sexuality, and women’s studies, history, international relations, psychology, religious studies, sociology” as related disciplines that can earn course credit.
For MBA students, MGMT 6240 - Leading Diversity in Organizations was renamed to Leading Across Cultural and Relational Differences. The same name change was made for MGMT 2240 in the undergraduate concentration.
Several required courses for both the undergraduate concentration and the MBA were changed in February.
The DEI program was approved by Wharton’s Curriculum Innovation and Review Committee, in September 2022 and Wharton began offering the programs a year later. The first students who majored and concentrated in DEI graduated in 2024.
The larger DEI page for Wharton was scrubbed in February.
“We have initiated a review of our efforts in this area to ensure they are fully consistent with the new guidance established by the federal government,” the former Wharton DEI page, now renamed the Equal Opportunity page, reads. “We remain deeply committed to providing a respectful and welcoming environment for our faculty, staff, students, alumni and everyone in the broader Wharton community."
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