DEI Is Under Attack At Colleges And Universities

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at colleges are under attack. In the wake of last week's Supreme Court decision ending affirmative action and race-conscious admissions policies, a potent combination of statewide political action and preemptive institutional policy decisions has triggered a major rollback of programs and initiatives targeted at minority students.

Even before the Supreme Court announced its decision in the pair of landmark admissions cases on June 29, DEI programs were already in the crosshairs of red-state politicians. In mid-May, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law that banned the state's public colleges and universities from allocating funds to DEI programs. The move came on the heels of his February appointment of six new conservative board members to the board of the New College (the state's public liberal arts college).

A month later, Texas Governor Gregg Abbott joined DeSantis by signing a similar bill banning DEI offices and the widespread practice of mandatory diversity training for students and employees. Red states North Dakota and Tennessee have also passed bills prohibiting implicit bias and diversity trainings this year, though they stopped short of an outright ban of DEI offices.

In all, 22 states have seen at least one piece of anti-DEI legislation introduced to their legislatures this year, according to data compiled by the Chronicle of Higher Education. While most of these bills died before becoming law, the SFFA decision appears to have generated new momentum for anti-DEI legislation. One such bill was passed by the Ohio Senate in May, with other anti-DEI legislation still active in both Carolinas. Additional red states are expected to join the fray over the next few months, building upon model legislation published by the conservative Manhattan Institute in January.

Ominously, legislators are now turning their eyes to an arguably more impactful target: minority-specific scholarship and aid programs at public universities. For example, on the same afternoon the decision was released, Wisconsin House Speaker Robin Vos tweeted plans to eliminate race-specific scholarships in his state.

Institutions may go further on their own

An even bigger threat to scholarships for URM students may come from within the institutions themselves. The University of Arkansas voluntarily dissolved its DEI offices in mid-June, perhaps pre-empting legislative action from the Republican super-majority in both houses.

Within the last week, meanwhile, both the University of Missouri system and the University of Kentucky announced an end to race-based scholarships. Over the next few weeks, as institutional legal and leadership teams scramble to respond to the ruling, many colleges and universities will likely opt to join them.

Missouri and Kentucky are both red states, though Kentucky has a popular Democratic governor (Andy Beshear). Over the coming months, other red-state colleges will face political pressure to join them in removing race-based private scholarships. Legal teams at private colleges that receive state funding may also recommend following in their footsteps.

A bifurcation may be emerging. The Supreme Court's decision to end affirmative action will remove race from admissions decisions nationwide. But in parts of the country, it may go a step further and strip the consideration of race from every institutional decision.

DEI has become a political football, a critical battleground in the larger culture war roiling American society and politics. This month's rollbacks are likely just the beginning.