Allow me to introduce you to two white Minnesota men who have benefitted from a federal grant recently gutted by President Donald Trump because of his contempt for DEI.
Jakob Anderson and Nate McKenzie were both admitted to the University of St. Thomas' teacher training program in a state that desperately needs more teachers. They felt called to a career in education because they know the person in front of a classroom can change the trajectory of a kid’s life.
But this month, the university learned that the Trump administration was canceling the $6.8 million federal grant that provides scholarships to teachers in training because the program promoted diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Trump believes that DEI initiatives discriminate against white people.
Because, as we all know, private Catholic colleges in the Midwest are ground zero for the woke agenda.
Let me tell you a bit more about Anderson and McKenzie, who each earned a scholarship that allowed them to afford tuition to St. Thomas. The three-year grant, which the university received in 2023, was intended to provide about 120 scholarships a year, ranging from $10,000 to $20,000.
Anderson, 33, grew up in Northfield. About six years ago, he started working at Prairie Creek Community School in his hometown as a paraprofessional. Last summer, he graduated from the university’s residency teaching program, in which he earned both his licensure and master’s degree within an intense 15 months that mixed in classroom instruction with student teaching. He now leads a classroom of his own, teaching second- and third-graders.
Most of his students hail either from Northfield or the outlying farming communities. His small charter school emphasizes outdoor learning. Anderson regularly holds lessons in the elements, like when he took his bundled-up students on a “creek stomp” this winter to search for animal tracks and scat and pick up blockages like trash and tree branches to help the creek’s ecosystem.

Even with his $10,000 scholarship, which he said paid for about half of his tuition at St. Thomas, Anderson was still scraping to get by.