On Tuesday evening, the college rescheduled the event, apologized and called the cancellation an "overreaction."

The college’s initial email canceling the event "created confusion, misunderstanding, and signaled a lack of regard and respect for the tradition, culture, and values of Asian American and Asian students, staff and faculty," wrote Dean Heidi Hennink-Kaminski and DEI Director Lauren Gaines in a new email obtained by The State News.

The event was canceled after receiving "input from students who expressed concern about gathering in person for the celebration," and was not associated with President Donald Trump’s efforts to rid the federal government and universities of DEI measures, according to the email.

The college will hold a listening session with Asian and Asian American faculty, staff and graduate students to "better understand the impact of this decision," according to the email. Gaines will hold open office hours to meet with undergraduate students.

Gaines and Hennink-Kaminski did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.

The rescheduled celebration will be held on Feb. 11 from 12-1 p.m. in WKAR Studio B. The college doesn’t plan to cancel future "cultural events," according to the email. 

The email — which made sure to clarify that the cancellation didn’t "reflect MSU’s position on cultural events, programming or inclusivity" — potentially signals a firmer university commitment to DEI after some uncertainty in the face of Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders.

In his first few weeks in office, Trump has signed a number of executive orders that defund inclusion measures in the federal government and ask his executive departments to find ways to do the same in universities, nonprofits and corporations he doesn’t have direct authority over.

One such order, signed just before the canceled event on Tuesday, targets MSU, among dozens of other schools, with Trump asking federal agencies to identify civil compliance investigations against universities with DEI programs and endowments above $1 billion.

Last month, the university postponed a "Future of DEI Policy at MSU" panel discussion. A day later, President Kevin Guskiewicz announced the creation of "Rapid Response Teams" to navigate policy changes under Trump.