Kellogg & Booth Disappear From The Consortium Website

Two more schools – both M7s – have disappeared from the member school website of The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management.

Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business no longer appear on the page, though both were listed as recently as last week. Poets&Quants reached out to both schools, as well as members of The Consortium, for confirmation but have not heard back.

If Kellogg and Booth have left The Consortium, it means that four U.S. business schools have departed the network since July 1, dropping the number of members from 25 at the start of summer to 21 today. While a website listing is not iron-clad proof of a school’s departure, it follows a pattern we’ve seen throughout the summer.

The Consortium has been quick to remove schools that leave from its membership page, though it has made no formal announcements about any of the departures. It also has not responded to numerous Poets&Quants requests for confirmation or comment.

Schools have remained relatively mum as well, in some cases confirming their status but offering no other context. (See: ‘If We Stay Silent, They’ll Leave Us Alone:’ Still No Comment From Texas McCombs Or Consortium On Historic Split)

SUMMER OF DEI DISCONTENT

The Consortium, a network of top U.S. MBA programs and companies working to elevate the number of underrepresented minorities in business education and corporate leadership, has faced a particularly turbulent summer in the wake of the Trump administration’s war on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The administration has sued several universities (and threatened others) and frozen billions in research grants and other funding in an unprecedented attack on U.S. higher education. It has so far had a chilling effect at universities across the country. The Chronicle of Higher Education’s DEI tracker reports that 387 college campuses in 45 states have dismantled or scaled back DEI programs since January 2023 when it started counting.

That includes a growing number of prominent business schools:

• On July 1, University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business ended its 40-year partnership with the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, citing recent changes in state and federal DEI policies.
• On July 17, University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business suspended its partnerships with both The Consortium and The Forté Foundation. The suspensions were “part of a broader review of programs and partnerships across the University,” McGregor McCance, a Darden spokesperson, confirmed to P&Q
• On August 1, The Wharton confirmed to P&Q that it ended its membership with Forté, the second U.S. business school to do so this summer.

Consortium Fellows receive full-tuition scholarships to MBA programs at member schools while Consortium Fellows and student members receive networking, professional development, and other benefits.

In 2004, the organization expanded its eligibility to include all U.S. citizens and permanent residents who demonstrate a commitment to its mission. But, that hasn’t stopped schools from backing away as they try to stay out of the administration’s crosshairs.

On July 9, the U.S. Department of Justice issued formal guidance warning that even well-intentioned DEI programs may violate federal civil rights laws. Though not technically law, the guidance applies to all ”entities receiving federal funds” which could include almost every university, public or private, that accepts federal research dollars, Pell grants, or federal student aid programs.

The document singles out a broad range of DEI-related practices, including race-conscious scholarships.

ERIC ALLEN NAMED NEW CEO

In the middle of the summer’s turmoil, The Consortium named Eric Allen its new CEO and executive director, effective August 1. He replaces Peter J. Aranda who retired after 23 years at the organization.

Allen earned an MBA from Wharton in 2004. Most recently, he served as general manager of Magoosh’s Admit.me Access business, developing a pre-MBA admissions and career platform. He previously worked as a consultant at Accenture and was a senior vice president at GE Healthcare Financial Services. He has founded and sold two startup ventures and developed tools to connect underrepresented and disadvantaged students with top universities and employers.

“I’m honored to join The Consortium at such a pivotal time,” Allen says in a release. “This organization has long been a catalyst for change in business education. I’m excited to build on that legacy and work toward a future where opportunity and leadership are accessible to everyone.”

Allen is a leukemia survivor and serves on the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society board of directors.

BOOTH’S MEMBERSHIP LASTED ONE YEAR

Kellogg announced it was joining The Consortium in November 2022, according to a press release on the school’s website. It began recruiting its inaugural fellow class in 2023, lasting just two rounds.

“We are thrilled to partner with The Consortium to advance its mission, which reflects our commitment to fostering an environment of exemplary diversity, equity and inclusion,” Dean Francesca Cornelli said at the time. “Kellogg has a great responsibility – and a distinctive ability – to shape inclusive leaders who demonstrate empathy and lead with principle. This begins with ensuring Kellogg’s community encompasses diverse backgrounds and that our school is a place where students are empowered to bring their full selves.”

Chicago Booth was the latest school to join The Consortium on July 1, 2024. It was the second school to join that year, following Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, and the fourth M7 Consortium school along with Kellogg, Stanford Graduate School of Business, and Columbia Business School.

The table below shows the status of the 25 Consortium member schools active at the start of this year. Washington University in St. Louis, Indiana University, and the University of Wisconsin were the founding member schools, joining in 1966.

University (B‑School)	Consortium Member	Year Joined	Public/Private	State
Indiana University (Kelley)	✓	1966	Public	Indiana
Washington University in St. Louis (Olin)	✓	1966	Private	Missouri
University of Wisconsin–Madison (Wisconsin WSB)	✓	1966	Public	Wisconsin
University of Southern California (Marshall)	✓	1968	Private	California
University of Rochester (Simon)	✓	1968	Private	New York
University of North Carolina (Kenan‑Flagler)	✓	1973	Public	North Carolina
University of Michigan (Ross)	✓	1983	Public	Michigan
University of Texas at Austin (McCombs)	Left July 1	1984	Public	Texas
New York University (Stern)	✓	1984	Private	New York
University of Virginia (Darden)	Left July 17	1992	Public	Virginia
University of California, Berkeley (Haas)	✓	1993 & 2010	Public	California
Dartmouth College (Tuck)	✓	1999	Private	New Hampshire
Emory University (Goizueta)	✓	2001	Private	Georgia
Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)	✓	2001	Private	Pennsylvania
Yale University (SOM)	✓	2008	Private	Connecticut
Cornell University (SC Johnson)	✓	2009	Private	New York
University of California, Los Angeles (Anderson)	✓	2010	Public	California
Georgetown University (McDonough)	✓	2013	Private	District of Columbia
Rice University (Jones)	✓	2017	Private	Texas
University of Washington (Foster)	✓	2018	Public	Washington
Columbia University (CBS)	✓	2021	Private	New York
Stanford University (GSB)	✓	2022	Private	California
Northwestern University (Kellogg)	Removed from website, August 2025	2023	Private	Illinois
Duke University (Fuqua)	✓	2024	Private	North Carolina
University of Chicago (Booth)	Removed from website, August 2025	2024	Private	Illinois

DON’T MISS: DOJ MEMO PUTS BUSINESS SCHOOL DIVERSITY PROGRAMS AT LEGAL RISK AND WHARTON ENDS FORTÉ MEMBERSHIP IN SUMMER OF DEI ROLLBACKS

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