Frustrated by college diversity initiatives that he says are “fomenting radical and toxic divisions,” Texas State Assemblyman Carl Tepper set out to end the Bureaus for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Higher Education.
The newly minted Republican legislature filed a bill to ban such offices. Three months later, he filed a new version of the legislation that did the same. The difference? Tepper changed the wording to align with a new model law being developed by the Manhattan Institute and the Goldwater Institute, two conservative think tanks based in New York and Arizona, respectively.
Republican lawmakers in at least a dozen states have proposed more than 30 bills this year targeting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in higher education, according to an Associated Press analysis found using bill-tracking software Plural . The measures have become the latest flashpoint in a cultural battle over race, ethnicity and gender being waged by prominent Republicans, including former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, potential rivals for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024, has been strengthened.
Many of the proposals have their roots in one of half a dozen conservative or libertarian organizations that offer recommendations to limit the consideration of diversity, equity and inclusion in employment decisions, education and student admissions. Some measures reflect the model calculations almost exactly. Others copy key definitions or phrases while adapting the concepts to their particular states.
“There is a tremendous appetite for the right to address this issue,” said Joe Cohn, legislative and policy director of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which added its own model legislation to the swelling suite of proposals in February.
The bills are a result of recent Republican attempts to curb critical race theory, a view that racism is historically systemic in the nation’s institutions and continues to perpetuate white dominance in society today. Christopher Rufo, now a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, helped stoke conservative outrage in 2020 against what he called critical race theory concepts infiltrating governments and educational institutions.
Trump responded by issuing an executive order in September 2020 banning training on “divisive concepts” about race for government employees and contractors. Similar wording appeared in state-level legislation the following year.
One of the most prominent measures is Florida’s so-called “Stop WOKE” law, which DeSantis signed into law last year. It prohibits corporations, colleges, and K-12 schools from offering training on certain racial concepts, such as B. the theory that people of a certain race are inherently racist, privileged or oppressed. Courts have currently blocked enforcement of the law in colleges, universities and businesses.
DeSantis has pushed the issue further. He proposed legislation this year to ban diversity, equity and inclusion bureaus as part of a broader agenda to transform higher education. He also appointed Rufo and other conservatives to the Board of Governors of the New College of Florida, which subsequently abolished the Liberal Arts College’s office, which deals with diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
“DeSantis has been so vocal about the changes he wants to make at universities that it has likely spurred activity in other states,” said Jenna Robinson, president of the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, a conservative-based nonprofit in Raleigh, North Carolina.
At first glance, diversity, equity and inclusion may seem indisputable. Universities and many companies have been committed to inclusion for years.
“DEI is woven into the fabric of good universities,” said Karma Chavez, chair of the Department of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies and co-chair of the Diversity Committee of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas.
Campus DEI offices often list services tailored to students of different races, genders, sexual orientations, cultures and abilities. Some college administrators also consider diversity and equity when admitting students, awarding scholarships, or deciding which faculty to hire and promote. Applicants may be asked not only for resumes and references, but also for explanations of how they would advance DEI’s efforts.
Tepper claims DEI initiatives are “ideologically driven” on a “Marxist foundation”. Republican lawmakers in other states have used similar arguments.
During a recent debate in the Missouri House, Republican Representative Doug Richey introduced a series of budget changes that would ban state funding for DEI initiatives in government agencies and higher education. He claimed the bureaus defended “racist politics” and “Marxist ideology that seeks to strip away from us the concepts of nuclear family, merit, character and the judgment of what one is capable of.”
Provisions blocking spending on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts were also included in budget bills in Kansas and Texas. Separate bills have been proposed in Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Oklahoma, Utah and West Virginia to ban DEI office spending in higher education, although some have already failed.
Other bills, such as Ohio and South Carolina, would allow such offices but prohibit mandatory DEI training and prohibit administrators from requiring DEI declarations from employees and students.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s administration in February warned state agencies against using DEI factors in employment decisions. This prompted the state’s largest university systems to end such practices and prompted University of Texas students to organize in defense of the DEI effort.
“It feels like an attack on my identity,” said Sameeha Rizvi, a college graduate who said she has benefited from DEI initiatives as a Muslim of color with a disability. “It is extremely hurtful and tiring to see this very hateful rhetoric being used by lawmakers.”
The American Association of University Professors, which has about 45,000 members nationwide, said the bills mischaracterize DEI initiatives.
“They whistle that DEI initiatives are something sinister and subversive that people should be afraid of, and that’s not true at all,” said association president Irene Mulvey.
The Martin Center and Goldwater Institute released model legislation last year describing mandatory DEI declarations by students and staff as a prohibited “political test.” Lawmakers in Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma and Texas all submitted bills with the proposed wording this year.
Cicero Action, an advocacy group based in Austin, Texas, and the newly formed organization Do No Harm, based in Richmond, Virginia, have assisted state legislatures in drafting legislation against diversity, equity and inclusion requirements in the United States Higher education also provided guidance. Similar bills in Missouri and Tennessee both follow Do No Harm’s concept of eliminating mandatory DEI instruction for medical students and healthcare providers.
Medical students at the University of Missouri have campaigned against the law, claiming it could jeopardize the school’s accreditation and prevent doctors from learning about unique circumstances that affect the health of people from diverse ethnic, socioeconomic and geographic backgrounds.
“We’re not just harming ourselves, we’re harming patients if these bills pass,” said medical student Jay Devineni.
