Breaking: Texas House passes bill to end diversity, equity and inclusion offices in higher education
Rep. John Kuempel, R-Seguin, who filed the House version of the bill, said during the House debate Friday that Texas is spending millions of dollars on DEI despite lacking evidence that DEI programs have increased minority recruitment and hiring.
“DEI is present in some form in almost every Texas campus,” he said. “We must recruit the best people in every field regardless of race and gender.” Rep. Nicole Collier, D-Fort Worth, asked Kuempel whether employees in DEI offices will lose their jobs. Kuempel said he assumes they’ll be reassigned to student services. An amendment was added to ensure employees would not lose their jobs. Some Republicans, including Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, disagree with such a move. Tinderholt said this bill is one of the most important ones this cycle, because Texas has allowed “leftists to infiltrate our universities for far too long.” He proposed an amendment that would remove the wording that would allow employees to be reassigned and another amendment that would require a yearly study on the impact of the bill.Creighton introduced the bill in March. During subsequent Senate debates, he argued that DEI programs are not working the way they are meant to. Instead, he said, they are discriminatory, favoring certain groups over others. Creighton also argued that when universities require diversity statements from job applicants, they’re violating the applicants’ First Amendment rights.The bill, he said, “does not harm diversity efforts, but it does remove divisive agendas that have been seen to be carried out through DEI units, personnel and certain departments.”Black Legislative CaucusA vocal opponent has been Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, who told The Dallas Morning News in early May that the bill would discourage students and academics from coming to Texas. During an April public hearing of the Senate higher education subcommittee, dozens of Texans, including students and faculty, waited almost 12 hours toagainst the bill. The subcommittee voted 4-1, along party lines, to advance the bill. West was the sole vote in opposition. “It’s wrong,” West said at the hearing. “As opposed to trying to fix the isolated incidents and make it a better program, you’re talking about dismantling the entire program.”When the bill reached the Senate floor, some Democratic lawmakers argued that the proposal could lead colleges and universities to struggle to comply withThe NCAA, the national organization that regulates college sports, could penalize Texas’ college athletic programs if the state eliminated DEI efforts, the senators argued.
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