AAUW: Government Shutdown and Court-Approved Civil Rights Firings Are a Devastating Betrayal of Students

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today the federal government is shut down — and just two days earlier, a federal appeals court cleared the way for the U.S. Department of Education to fire nearly half of its civil rights enforcement staff. Together, these blows deliver an unprecedented crisis for America’s students. 

“This is a devastating one-two punch,” said Gloria L. Blackwell, Chief Executive Officer of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). “With the government closed and the Department of Education’s civil rights office gutted, students are left without the protections and services they urgently need. It is unconscionable that our leaders have chosen to abandon them at this moment.”

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is the nation’s frontline defense against discrimination — from sexual harassment and assault cases under Title IX to disability access and race discrimination. Even before this week’s ruling, the Department had already begun dismissing complaints at an alarming pace. Now, with the shutdown in effect, reviews and investigations are suspended. That means real students are left in limbo. For example, a Title IX investigation opened last fall after more than a year of document collection and witness interviews, will now be frozen mid-stream until the government reopens, delaying relief and discouraging future reports. 

At the same time, the Department is sprinting to implement sweeping changes required by the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill, including eliminating Grad PLUS loans and capping graduate borrowing at levels that will price many women and students of color out of advanced degrees. Those rules are being rushed through negotiated rulemaking even as most of the Department is furloughed.  

Meanwhile, the shutdown is halting financial aid processing, disrupting critical research, pausing community-based programs, and dismantling the very civil-rights protections meant to keep schools safe and fair. 

“These are not isolated setbacks,” Blackwell continued. “They are coordinated attacks on civil-rights protections across the entire education journey — from preschool classrooms to Ph.D. programs. Students at every stage deserve safe, equitable learning environments, and stripping away federal oversight abandons them all. AAUW refuses to stay silent while our country turns its back on them.”

AAUW calls on Congress to end the shutdown immediately and to push back on the mass firings of staff tasked with civil rights enforcement. The American promise of equal opportunity in education cannot survive if the government abandons its role as guarantor of students’ rights. 

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AAUW (American Association of University Women) is the nation’s leading organization for equity in higher education and women’s economic empowerment.  

Founded in 1881 by women who defied society’s conventions by earning college degrees, AAUW has since worked to increase women’s access, opportunity, and equity in higher education through research, advocacy, and philanthropy of over $146 million, supporting thousands of women scholars. Learn more at aauw.org.