The spring semester was a time of great adjustment for colleges and universities in Texas as state schools were forced to disband any office related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), thanks to a bill signed by Gov. Greg Abbott back in June. While the GOP-led movement to disband DEI offices has caught fire across the country, school donations in 2023 suggest a rift between lawmakers’ wishes and the community’s.
In step with a significant bounce back in university endowments this past year, almost two-thirds of all colleges and universities reported receiving donations to fund their DEI initiatives. Of that group, 64% were small to mid-sized institutions with endowments of $250 million or below, a cohort representing nearly half of the institutions surveyed by the National Association of College and University Business Officers and Commonfund. In terms of ultrawealthy institutions, more than a quarter of all institutions with endowments above $5 billion reported having a formal policy on DEI in their selection process for investment managers.
Proponents of DEI believe its offices allow institutions to create flourishing environments for their traditionally marginalized students. Colleges and universities can target their initiatives across differences in race, ethnicity, financial situation and more. For example, Utah Valley University has seen the retention rate for its female, first-generation and Latino students grow by 6%, 10% and 16%, respectively, over the past decade, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.
However, Utah’s governor is not convinced, believing that the schools’ DEI offices are wasting too many resources and have a higher propensity to foster divisiveness.
“The question is, what are the outcomes?” asked Gov. Spencer Cox. “Are we actually making a difference?”
Utah joins at least 23 states weighing anti-DEI bills this spring, according to the National Education Association. Many of these bills aim to close multicultural and LGBTQ+ campus centers and forbid employees from providing specific support. In Texas, decades-old multicultural centers have been disbanded, and faculty who have long been dedicated to fortifying diversity engagement are left scratching their heads as to what to do as they’ve been realigned to new departments.
“People want to keep their jobs, but many of us were trained to do this work around diversity, inclusion and equity and were hired specifically to do that,” said Patrick Smith, vice president of the Texas Faculty Association, according to the AP News.
Lawmakers aren’t the only ones trying to intimidate Texas administration and faculty to quit their DEI efforts. Accuracy in Media, a conservative news outlet, recently posed as proponents of DEI and used “deceptive tactics” to capture video footage of higher ed speaking about the statewide ban and how they’d try to circumvent it, The Dallas Morning News reports. Universities that don’t comply with the ruling risk losing state funding.
While donations in the NACUBO-Commonfund report point to private support for DEI, some college leaders are also stepping up. The Kentucky Senate recently passed a bill limiting the higher ed initiative, prompting the presidents of the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville to defend the programs.
“I strongly believe that you cannot deliver a high-quality university education without a diverse classroom and campus—inclusive of all demographics, identities and ideologies,” said UofL President President Kim Schatzel in a statement. “Only in such circumstances and with such experiences will our students be prepared to foster their own and others’ excellence in a diverse global economy. In short, a diverse and inclusive campus better prepares our students to lead.”
