(Re)Framing Campus DEI: How Language and Ideology Shape Support Among Faculty, Staff, and Students

Abstract Political attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives have intensified pressures on U.S. colleges and universities to reconsider how they communicate equity work. Guided by Framing Theory, this experiment tested whether message framing interacts with ideological belief systems to shape support for campus equity initiatives. A national sample of 770 students, faculty, and staff were randomly assigned to read one of three vignettes describing the same equity initiative framed as “DEI”, “Belonging”, or “Equal Opportunity”, then rated their support for the initiative. Additionally, participants completed validated measures of race-evasive ideology and social dominance orientation (SDO). Results suggested that the group who received DEI terminology reported significantly lower support than the alternative frames. Higher levels of race-evasive ideology and SDO predicted lower support overall, with these effects most pronounced under the DEI frame and attenuated under Belonging and Equal Opportunity. Taken together, the results show that language influences stakeholder support but that ideological commitments explain more variance than framing alone. Strategic framing may broaden coalitions in anti-DEI climates, yet enduring progress requires addressing the underlying beliefs that sustain resistance.