A Black Professor Documents Working at a “Hostile” White University in Louisville

One of Donald Trump's first actions during his second presidential election was to pursue policies that would eliminate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the workplace. As a result, multiple corporations seemingly got in line, with stores like Walmart, Target, and Amazon (Whole Foods) rolling back their DEI programs that were well established before Trump's decision.

Since the surge of DEI policies shifting, Black professionals within corporate America have expressed how working in this era has affected them. In August 2025, a Black professor described his time working at a Predominately White Institution (PWI) in a weekly TikTok series called "Black professor at a hostile white university." His TikTok series has since sparked a movement to raise awareness of the racism happening within academia.

The professor, Dr. Ricky L. Jones, took to TikTok in August 2025. In the post, Jones, who has worked in the Pan-African Studies department at the University of Louisville, said he wasn't looking forward to classes starting again for the first time since he started with the university. He said his lack of enthusiasm stems from his and other faculty members' knowing of entering "hostile work environments." Jones added that he's always had issues navigating the PWI as a Black educator, but said it had increasingly gotten worse since Trump's election.

"We're basically in places where politicians, through their activities, and the silence of university leaders, even though they say, 'the university is welcome to everybody,' they're basically saying, 'We don't want you here,'" Jones said. "And for people like me who are Black studies professors and teach things about race, and care about the well-being of Black folks and Black children, it's particularly hostile for us."

Jones said he believes the hostile issues surrounding the university didn't only happen due to Trump's election. He also shared that he went into the new semester anticipating that the Pan-African Studies department would eventually be cut due to the ongoing policies. Jones further noted that not all of the Black within the university is speaking out and called University of Louisville's DEI department a "sham" and felt they were obviously "collaborating" with the PWI's alleged views.

"We're pretty much on our own," Jones said of his advocacy. "There's really not any hope for change here, but we gotta survive as long as we can and let folks know what's going on."

In addition to using his social media platforms to address issues about his time at the University of Louisville, Jones also spoke out about the university's silence surrounding Kentucky's House Bill 4, a bill limiting DEI initiatives that was passed into law on March 27, 2025. According to an interview with The Louisville Cardinal, Jones believed the discrimination he and other Black faculty members received was bigger than the bill.

"One of the most insidious ways that is happening at the University of Louisville right now is just utter silence around issues of importance," Jones said. "And they’ve accomplished that in numerous ways.”

“I don’t want to use anti-DEI because that’s a loaded term," he continued. "They demonize that as a catch-off, but they’re pushing anti-diversity [legislation], which is really anti-Black legislation,” he said. “And if you look at the legislative record, they were pushing these things before Trump was reelected. So, this is not all about Donald Trump. You’ve got Republican legislators that were trying to do this in Kentucky, and certainly in other places too.”

Jones added that the University of Louisville historically "had a relatively low representation of Black students" before Trump's administration resurfaced. As of this writing, he remains employed with the university.