Gov. Abbott signs bills banning diversity, equity and inclusion offices in public universities
The Texas Senate has approved a bill that would ban diversity programs and departments in public universities. This legislation states that “institutions of higher education must not establish or maintain a DEI office[unit/division]”. It also addresses training, programs, or activities that discuss topics such as race, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation is not required.
It is currently unknown if the current Office Of Student Diversity, Equity and Inclusion will be shut down or renamed and repurposed.
The law will take effect January 1.
When asked about UHCL’s compliance with new legislation and the closure of our office, UHCL President Richard Walker had this to say:
“During the recent legislative session, both the Texas House and Senate passed SB17 regarding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at institutions of higher education. One component of the legislation states that institutions of higher education must not establish or maintain a DEI office/unit/division. Additionally, the legislation addresses trainings, programs or activities regarding DEI.
UHCL is currently working with the UH System regarding the interpretation and implementation of the legislative requirements. There will need to be some reorganization of our current offices and programs. This is something we will be working on and finalizing this summer. Once we have a plan of action it will be communicated to the campus community.”
One note to clarify is that this new legislation would not affect course instruction, faculty research, student organizations, guest speakers, data collection or admissions to universities. Specifically, regarding student government as they also rewrite their own constitution.
“I know there are committees behind the scenes making decisions on rewriting our Constitution, but they haven’t submitted anything to [SGA] yet,” said Austin Meredith, Student Government Vice President of Administration. “We just made our new academic years vision, and it’s all about inclusivity and I don’t expect that legislation to affect our stance, or what we strive to do.”
