The board overseeing higher education in Kansas is considering banning state universities from requiring prospective students, potential hires and staffers seeking promotion to disclose their views on diversity initiatives.
Kansas Senate Ways and Means Committee Chair Rick Billinger, left, R-Goodland, confers with Sen. Kristen O’Shea, right, R-Topeka, during a break in the Senate’s session, Wednesday, April 3, 2024, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. Republicans are likely to pass a proposed state budget that includes provisions designed to force Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly to restrict diversity initiatives on college campuses and help Texas in its fight over border security with the Biden administration.
The proposed change comes as the state’s Democratic governor faces pressure to enshrine the anti-DEI policy in law following Republicans’ approval of a bill in the Legislature that would put the same policy into state law. That bill allows a fine of up to $10,000 for a violation and includes provisions in the next state budget to withhold nearly $36 million from the state universities unless they publicly confirm that they don’t have such requirements. Gov.
“I don’t think we ever would have had a state law if this was their policy at the outset,” Republican state Sen. J.R. Claeys, the author of the budget provisions, said ahead of Wednesday’s board discussion.
“The intended purpose is to provide an opportunity for prospective employees to reflect on their experiences and how those experiences complement the mission and values of an institution to support a diverse campus community,” said Paulette Granberry Russell, president of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Educations, in an email statement.
It’s unclear how widespread required DEI-related statements on applications are, but GOP lawmakers have said they are responding to complaints and applications they’d seen online. Granberry Russell said she was unaware of any university expecting students, job applicants or employees to actually “pledge allegiance to diversity.”released in February said that just 1.
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