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Sunday, May 26, 2024

Texas university leaders attest to how they’re complying with the state’s DEI ban: Nevermind that the "diversity genie" is out of the bottle

I wonder how the UT system and other universities are going to get around the fact that if students perceive their campuses as hostile—which they clearly are in the wake of the taking down of DEI offices and initiatives—how are they supposed to derive that sense of “fitting in?” 

How is it helpful for their peers to not know about their cultures, including those that are Indigenous to this continent? It’s hard to express otherwise, but institutions that uphold ways of knowing and being in the world that are from white, individualist cultures, means that these students will feel excluded and misunderstood if not outright judged negatively for not “getting with the program.” 

My prediction is that by not including and welcoming diversity, SB 17 will have the opposite effect of motivating cultures of resistance that will continue to advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion, as well as free speech and freedom of expression. After all, the seeds of the late 60's and early 70's were in the fascism of the 1950s. We've been here before....

I think that if the firings of former DEI staff would have happened in the Summer instead of during the school year, the consciousness and critical mass for resistance as the Tuesday hearing demonstrated, would have been muted.

Instead, I see that lots of folks, including parents, got a major upgrade in their consciousness of what white supremacy is and looks like. At least for the Hispanic/Latinx community, there was a widely-sensed impact of being disrespected and denied, particularly when the Latinx graduation was eliminated. I am sure that this was widely experienced, as well, among all those similarly affected. 

What I really like about what I am seeing and hearing among the students is a clear awareness of when they are being gaslighted. Our youth are too sophisticated to get tricked into a new thought world that is tantamount to "white supremacy with a smile."

The supremacists should have done this 40 years ago. The "diversity genie" is out of the bottle. Try as they may, it can't get put back in. And we're all the better for that.

Good things, I trust, will come of this.

-Angela Valenzuela

Under scrutiny from legislators, Texas university leaders attest to how they’re complying with the state’s DEI ban

Tuesday’s Texas Senate hearing comes as lawmakers are expected to propose new laws next year to enforce the DEI ban and prevent antisemitism.


The Senate Committee on Education held a hearing on antisemitism, free speech and compliance with the state's DEI ban on May 14, 2024. Credit: Leila Saidane for The Texas Tribune

BY SNEHA DEY

MAY 14, 2024

Public university leaders tried to demonstrate their schools can still build diverse student bodies in a post-DEI reality and acknowledged a rise in reports of antisemitism on campuses at a wide-ranging hearing Tuesday that covered some of the most explosive issues rattling higher education in the state.

In their first public testimony since the ban on diversity, equity and inclusion offices went into effect, university system administrators explained to the Texas Senate subcommittee on higher education how they were complying with the state law. They said they have redirected millions of dollars away from their now-defunct DEI offices toward redoubling recruiting efforts and developing alternative student support programs.

“Every dollar spent on bloated university bureaucracy should be redeployed to ensure that all Texas students regardless of race, are college ready and heavily recruited for those that want to apply to a college,” said State Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, who shepherded the DEI ban through the Legislature last year.

Lawmakers put an end to DEI offices when they passed Senate Bill 17 during the 2023 legislative session. The law went into effect in January. Opponents of DEI programs and training said those programs indoctrinated students with left-wing ideology and forced universities to make hires based on their support of diversity efforts rather than on merit and achievement.

Creighton called Tuesday’s hearing after he and GOP leaders expressed concerns that colleges were not fully complying with the law. The Conroe Republican has not provided specific examples about what reports of noncompliance he has received or discussed them at the hearing.

Creighton pressed Texas Tech University leaders about how they were changing the culture at the West Texas school so that DEI practices did not reemerge.

Texas Tech came under fire last year after its biology department asked job candidates to submit so-called diversity statements and gave them negative marks for failing to articulate the difference between “equality” and “equity.” Diversity statements are typically one- to two-page letters in which job candidates are asked to share their experiences working with diverse populations and their commitment to helping a diverse group of students succeed. Critics have characterized them as political litmus tests.

University leaders said the closures of DEI offices and programs have meant they now have new funds available to spend. University of Texas System administrators said they freed up $25 million in their budget after closing 21 offices, eliminating 311 full- and part-time positions and canceling 681 trainings related to DEI.

The Texas State University System saved $3 million and the University of Houston System about $750,000 after eliminating their DEI programs and positions.

Lawmakers last year blasted DEI programs as ineffective but recognized Tuesday that Texas colleges still have to build and maintain student bodies that reflect the state’s population.

“We all support diversity. We want to include more students in the kinds of opportunities that our higher education can provide,” Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, said. “Part of that includes recruitment.”

U.T. System Chancellor J.B. Milliken testifies before the Texas Senate Committee on Education on May 14, 2024. Credit: Leila Saidane for The Texas Tribune





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