Six states, including some with Democratic governors, have prohibited or prohibited the use of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at public universities this year.
DEI practices in higher education have been controversial in recent years, most often opposed by Republicans, and critics such as civil rights attorney Devon Westhill have argued that they are “bringing left-wing, far-left ideological orthodoxy to educational institutions.” “It’s an industry that forces people on them.” Essentially every area of American life. ”
In 2024 alone, Alabama, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, and Utah banned or restricted their use in their education and application processes in their state education systems.
In January, Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox declared that organizations engage in “discriminatory practices” such as “individuals being held responsible for past acts committed by others based on that individual’s identity characteristics.” signed a bill banning it. Individuals with the same personal identity characteristics. ”
Indiana University course teaches that people are inherently “oppressors” because of their race, gender or religion
View of the University of Utah campus from Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Rick Bowmer)
The anti-DEI law also prohibited schools from implementing any policies, procedures, practices, programs, offices, initiatives, or mandatory training that reference or refer to “diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
In March, Republican Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed SB129. The same article bans certain DEI offices as well as “promoting, supporting, or affirming certain divisive concepts in certain public forums.”
The bill would require “an individual to accept, acknowledge, affirm, or consent to guilt, complicity, or need for an apology on the basis of race, color, religion, or sex.” “Divisive concepts” are prohibited. , ethnicity, or national origin” and “characteristics such as meritocracy or work ethics are racist or sexist.”
The bill also mandated restroom use based on biological sex rather than gender identity and that public higher education institutions “allow for certain penalties for violations.”
Governor Kay Ivey answers questions from reporters during a press conference at the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, Alabama (Reuters)
In March, the state of Indiana passed a bill that would amend the requirements of state education agencies’ diversity committees to increase “intellectual diversity.” Additionally, the Indiana House of Representatives has introduced a bill that would further ban DEI education in schools by requiring that educators “shall not promote certain concepts related to race or gender in any course.” did.
Biden Department of Education Spends More than $1 Billion on DEI Grants: Report
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly (D) approved legislation that prohibits higher education institutions from engaging in certain DEI-related activities without her signature. The bill, passed in April, would impose a $10,000 fine on public institutions that use DEI practices in faculty hiring or student admissions.
“While I have concerns about this bill, I do not believe that the acts covered by this bill will occur at our universities,” Kelly wrote when the bill was passed.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, also a Republican, introduced an education funding bill in May that included provisions restricting DEI in schools, just months after the state Board of Education began rolling back DEI practices in higher education. Signed.
Spring campus scenery at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. (Don and Melinda Crawford/UCG/Universal Images Group)
The bill would “address unconscious or implicit bias, cultural appropriation, allyship, transgender ideology, microaggressions, group marginalization, anti-racism, and systemic oppression in the official position of public higher education institutions.” prohibits “any effort to promote particular widely controversial views”. , social justice, intersectionality, knee pronouns, heteronormativity, disparate influence, gender theory, racial privilege, sexual privilege, or related formulations about these concepts. ”
Idaho became the latest state to decide that agencies do not require “specific structures or activities related to DEI.”
In December, the Idaho State Board of Education recommended that educational institutions “ensure that central offices, policies, procedures, and initiatives are not dedicated to DEI ideology” and “require employees and students to declare their gender identity or gender.” They unanimously agreed to a resolution calling for “to ensure that there is no Preferred pronoun. ”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Other states, including Florida, Texas, and Tennessee, have all previously banned DEI practices in higher education.
Aubrey Spady is a writer for Fox News Digital.
Source link
