Washington and Lee is renaming the Office of Inclusion and Engagement as the Department of Student Engagement and Leadership amid pressure from the Trump administration. 

The new SEAL office will oversee student activities and programs, including minority affinity groups and religious and spiritual life. 

“This new department brings synergy and collaboration among the areas and allows us to be intentional about the campus experience and leadership development,” said Tammy Futrell, dean of student engagement and leadership, in an emailed statement to the Ring-tum Phi. 

“We want to empower students to discover their passions and develop as leaders,” Futrell said. 

According to Futrell, the name change is the result of structural changes within the Office of Student Affairs, an initiative led by Alex Miller, vice president of student affairs. Miller started in the role in 2024. 

The name change comes after calls from the Trump administration to end diversity, equity and inclusion programming on college campuses peaked earlier this year. In February, the Department of Education sent a letter to all federally funded schools requiring them to end programs that increase or promote diversity.

Several other Virginia universities renamed their DEI offices earlier this year. In April, George Mason University renamed its office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to the Office of Access, Compliance, and Community. The University of Virginia moved to dissolve their DEI office in March.

While OIE no longer exists, the Center for Inclusion and Engagement will retain its name and serve as the physical office space for SEAL on the second floor of Elrod Commons.

In 2019, the university class of 1994 donated $1 million to create the center in hopes of raising awareness of the social exclusion of minority students on campus, according to previous Phi reporting.

Multiple faculty members have also had title changes amid the restructuring.

Jake Reeves, who was previously the assistant director of inclusion and engagement for LGBTQ+ support, is now the associate director of student engagement and technology. 

Reeves is still responsible for supporting LGBTQ+ programming on campus, according to the university staff directory. He did not respond to requests to comment by the time of publication. 

Dean Tamara Futrell was promoted to the dean of student engagement and leadership in March after holding the title of dean of diversity, inclusion, and student engagement since 2018, according to previous Phi reporting. 

“This promotion affords me the opportunity to have oversight of all the programmatic functional areas within the division,” Futrell told the Phi. 

In her expanded role, Futrell now oversees staff and programming within the areas of student organizations, outdoor education and recreation, health promotion, cultural and affinity groups, and religious and spiritual life. 

The restructuring of the student affairs division also includes the creation of new student programming, including the development of a spirit squad, Futrell said. 

SEAL also plans to establish a student pep band to perform at sporting events, she said. 

Dean Laura Ulmer is spearheading the new student-led spirit initiative through the SEAL office, which aims to “infuse school spirit into the campus community,” Futrell said.

Ulmer, formerly the director of student activities, was promoted to dean of student engagement in March. 

The spirit squad will be responsible for organizing social media campaigns to encourage students to come to sporting events, as well as encouraging students to learn the university fight song, Futrell said.