Three university systems — Texas A&M, the University of Houston and Texas State University — banned diversity statements from job applications following an order from Gov. Greg Abbott to stop considering diversity in hiring.
’s office sent a letter to public universities and state agencies saying that DEI hiring practices violated federal and state employment laws and barring them from hiring on factors “other than merit.” Legal experts have said the governor’s office mischaracterized the legal practices employers use when considering diversity in their hiring.
On Friday, University of Houston System Renu Khator followed suit when she said in a letter to system employees that the system of more than 47,000 students would also not allow the use of diversity statements in hiring or promotion at any of its four universities. UT System board Chair Kevin Eltife said last week that while the system strives to promote diversity among its students and faculty, “certain DEI efforts have strayed from the original intent to now imposing requirements and actions that, rightfully so, has raised the concerns of our policymakers around those efforts on campuses across our entire state.” The university has not responded to requests for more specifics about which efforts he was referring to.
“The innocuous sounding notion of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has been manipulated to push policies that expressly favor some demographic groups to the detriment of others,” Gardner Pate, Abbott’s chief of staff, wrote in his letter to university and state agency leaders last month. As the state’s demographics have shifted, universities have created offices and hired staff with the intent to ensure schools were serving these students. Many schools recommitted to these efforts after George Floyd’s murder, when students demanded schools commit to fighting systemic racism within higher education and offer more academic and emotional support to help them succeed.
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