Texas Senate passes bill to kill DEI programs: You can hear all of yesterday's hearing on SB 17 here

These are our students standing up for higher education! So proud of them. You can hear all of yesterday's hearing on SB 17 here: https://tinyurl.com/mrttabk7

-Angela Valenzuela

Texas Senate passes bill to kill diversity, equity and inclusion programs

“DEI has become a political agenda," said the bill's author, while critics warned that eliminating the programs would jeopardize the progress Texas universities have made in hiring diverse talent.

Jeremy Wallace | April 20, 2023 | Houston Chronicle

Left to right, Jenna Doane, Cecelia jordan, Janeva Wilson, Maria del Carmen Unda, and Lauren Mena Shook discuss proposed legislation to ban diversity hiring programs in Texas colleges at the Texas State Capitol in Austin on April, 6, 2023. The are all members of the education policy planning program UT Austin.Bob Daemrich/Bob Daemrich/Contributor

After more than five hours of debate, the Texas Senate voted 19-12 late Wednesday to bar all public universities and colleges from having diversity, equity and inclusion programs or staff.

State Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, said while he is all for diversity, DEI programs have gone too far, and are actually excluding some job candidates and ultimately not succeeding in increasing the diversity of college faculty.

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“DEI has become a political agenda, not a program that follows civil rights law,” Creighton said.

Democrats vehemently opposed the legislation, saying DEI was being mischaracterized by Republicans based on a few isolated incidences, and that it ignored how colleges have used the programs to make sure diverse candidates — once overlooked by universities — are getting a chance to be considered for jobs and future advancement.

The legislation now goes to the Texas House, which must pass the same bill if it is going to make it to Gov. Greg Abbott, who has the final say on whether it will become law.

Creighton argued scrapping DEI would allow more “diversity of thought” and that lawmakers could work on other ways to promote diversity.

But state Sen. Borris Miles, a Houston Democrat and one of just two Black members of the Senate, said that didn’t make sense.

“There is no logic in the belief that you can increase diversity by removing the policies and offices that work to promote diversity,” he said.

EXCLUSIVE: Gov. Greg Abbott explains his fight against diversity hiring programs on college campuses

All 12 Democrats in the Texas Senate voted against the bill.

Like Creighton, Abbott has argued DEI programs sound good on the surface but that they have been manipulated to pass on potential job applicants because of their race. He sent warnings to colleges and universities in February, which was followed by schools like the University of Texas, Texas A&M University and the University of Houston all announcing that they would step back from DEI programs or review how their programs work.

But that hasn’t been enough for the Republican-led Legislature, which has threatened to cut funding for colleges that use DEI programs and now has Creighton’s legislation advancing.

jeremy.wallace@houstonchronicle.com