<p>The past few years have seen Americans roundly reject the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) ideology universities have long pushed on faculty and students alike.</p>
<p>Even before the Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action at universities, a majority of Americans, 62%, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/most-americans-think-college-admissions-should-not-consider-race-reutersipsos-2023-02-15/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opposed</a> race-based college admissions. At least a dozen states, including one with a Democratic governor, have cracked down on DEI at their higher education institutions in the past few years.</p>
<p>In 2024, seven states signed legislation against DEI or stripped funding for it at universities — Alabama, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Utah, and Wyoming. Those states join Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and North Dakota, all of which moved against DEI before last year.</p>
<p>In April, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, a Democrat, allowed the legislature to enact a new <a href="https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2023_24/measures/documents/hb2105_enrolled.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">law</a> that fines public universities $10,000 if they use DEI policies in hiring faculty or accepting students.</p>
<p>&#8220;While I have concerns about this legislation, I don’t believe that the conduct targeted in this legislation occurs in our universities,&#8221; Kelly <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/six-states-banned-limited-dei-colleges-universities-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> of the bill.</p>
<p>In Utah, Governor Spencer Cox, a Republican, signed a <a href="https://le.utah.gov/~2024/bills/static/HB0261.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a> prohibiting universities from having &#8220;diversity, equity and inclusion&#8221; programs, practices, or required trainings.</p>
<p>The law says such &#8220;discriminatory&#8221; practices include asserting that &#8220;meritocracy is inherently racist or sexist&#8221; or &#8220;that an individual, by virtue of the individual’s personal identity characteristics, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other individuals with the same personal identity characteristics.&#8221;</p>
<p>Alabama&#8217;s new <a href="https://arc-sos.state.al.us/ucp/L1499133.AI1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">law</a> banning DEI offices from public universities, K-12 school systems, and state agencies <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/alabama-universities-shutter-dei-offices-new-law-rcna163400" target="_blank" rel="noopener">took</a> effect in October.</p>
<p>The Alabama law also prohibits pushing certain &#8220;divisive concepts&#8221; in public settings, including that a person can be &#8220;inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or subconsciously&#8221; due to his race, sex, or religion.</p>
<p>In response, the University of Alabama&#8217;s three campuses shuttered their DEI offices.</p>
<p>The Alabama law also addresses the transgender bathroom issue. It requires restrooms at public universities to be designated on the basis of biological sex with &#8220;penalties for violation.&#8221;</p>
<p>Indiana passed a <a href="https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/senate/bills/SB0202/SB0202.06.ENRH.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">law</a> in March banning universities from requiring diversity statements from employees or students. The law also requires universities to have policies where faculty cannot get tenure if they have not encouraged “free expression and intellectual diversity” or have taught students political views unrelated to their classes. It also orders universities to explore ways to promote recruitment of &#8220;underrepresented&#8221; students, not just minority students.</p>
<p>Iowa passed a <a href="https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=90&amp;ba=SF%202435" target="_blank" rel="noopener">law</a> in May barring its three state universities from having DEI offices or requiring anyone to submit a DEI statement. And Wyoming <a href="https://www.uwyo.edu/news/2024/03/a-message-from-the-president-legislative-actions-regarding-uw.html#:~:text=Most%20notably%2C%20the%20Legislature%20reduced,%2C%20effective%20July%201%2C%202024." target="_blank" rel="noopener">defunded</a> the DEI office at the University of Wyoming, which had been getting $1.73 million.</p>
<p>A number of other states banned certain DEI policies before last year. Florida now has several anti-DEI laws, including a 2023 law that <a href="https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/931/?Tab=BillHistory" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prohibits</a> public universities from requiring a &#8220;political loyalty test&#8221; from employees or students or giving them preferential treatment based on race or ideology. Another Florida law from that year bans using state or federal funds for DEI at public universities.</p>
<p>Last month, Idaho&#8217;s state education board unanimously <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/in-sweeping-action-idahos-education-board-bans-dei-ideology-on-college-campuses" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted</a> to ban race and gender policies and cultural centers at its public universities.</p>
<p>In 2021, Idaho barred public colleges and K-12 schools from DEI statements, or compelling “students to personally affirm, adopt, or adhere to” certain concepts related to sex, race, and religion. The same year, the state <a href="https://www.highereddive.com/news/idaho-education-board-bans-dei-boise-state-university-idaho-state-lewis-clark/735987/#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20the%20Legislature%20passed,%2C%20color%2C%20or%20national%20origin." target="_blank" rel="noopener">cut</a> $2.5 million from state funding for social justice programming at its three public universities.</p>
<p>In 2023, North Dakota enacted a new law <a href="https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/68-2023/regular/documents/23-0417-02000.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">banning</a> DEI statements at universities as well as mandatory DEI training. A student or school employee may not be required to agree with concepts like &#8220;race or sex scapegoating&#8221; or that an individual &#8220;should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or another form of psychological distress solely because of the individual&#8217;s race or sex,&#8221; the law says.</p>
<p>The same year, Texas enacted a <a href="https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/pdf/SB00017F.pdf#navpanes=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">law</a> requiring public universities to confirm that they do not require DEI statements or have a DEI office before they can spend any state money.</p>
<p>In 2022, Tennessee <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/diversity-equity/2023/04/18/tennessee-again-targets-divisive-concepts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> a law saying public university students and employees cannot be penalized for not agreeing with certain “divisive concepts” including that “the rule of law does not exist, but instead is a series of power relationships and struggles among racial or other groups.”</p>
<p>The state doubled down in 2023 with another law banning mandatory implicit bias training and inviting students and employees to report violations.</p>
<p>North Carolina passed a <a href="https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2023/Bills/Senate/PDF/S364v6.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">law</a> in 2023 making it illegal to force state employees, including those at public universities to give their opinion about &#8220;matters of contemporary political debate or social action.&#8221;</p>
<p>The state&#8217;s Democratic governor vetoed the bill, saying it would get rid of training to help people understand &#8220;the unconscious bias we all bring to our work and our communities.&#8221; However, the legislature <a href="https://ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2023/S364" target="_blank" rel="noopener">overrode</a> the governor&#8217;s veto.</p>
<p>A slew of other states have proposed anti-DEI legislation as well, but so far they have not been successful.</p>

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These States Have Cracked Down On DEI At Colleges