Multiple states have implemented laws that ban public funding for colleges and universities that use diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, but some schools are trying to rebrand their efforts.
Texas and Florida banned the usage of DEI in public schools and universities, and multiple other Republican state legislatures have proposed such bans on programs that use public funds, saying that the programs discriminate on the basis of race and sex. While the University of Houston (UH) has opened a new center with a different name, the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) is keeping its DEI staff at the university — leading some state lawmakers to question if the schools’ changes will comport to the spirit of the law. (RELATED: ‘Indoctrinate Students’: State Lawmakers Are Pushing Back On The Diversity Initiative Takeover On College Campuses)
“Our office will definitely be engaged with any sort of signals or indication that we see of any public universities not following the spirit and intent of the law,” Republican Texas state Sen. Brandon Creighton, author of the Texas bill that banned the usage of public funds for DEI, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
