In the most comprehensive look yet at how Texas’ DEI ban has changed campuses across the state, recent communications with lawmakers reveal the series of steps university leaders have taken to comply with the law and preserve billions in state funding.
University system leaders described their efforts in written responses to Sen. Brandon Creighton, the author of the DEI ban, after the Conroe Republican warned them they could lose funding or face legal consequences if they don’t follow the law , which came into effect. in January.
In documents obtained by The Texas Tribune and in public testimony before senators, leaders from all seven Texas university systems said they have closed multicultural offices, laid off or reassigned DEI staff and stopped requiring diversity statements, or letters identifying candidates in academia share their past efforts to promote diverse learning spaces and help students of all backgrounds succeed.
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Read Texas university systems’ responses to questions about their compliance with the state’s DEI ban
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Some described how they have changed their operations to comply with the law and continue to support some students. University of Texas Woman leaders said they opened a center for first-generation students after closing their DEI office. More than 50% of the system’s incoming students are the first in their families to attend college.
A few system leaders said they didn’t need to make major changes because they never had major DEI programs on their campuses. At a Texas Senate subcommittee on higher education this month, Brian McCall, chancellor of the Texas State University System, said most of his schools didn’t have DEI offices in the first place.
The documents also show that administrators guide their staff on how to answer diversity-related questions on federal grant applications without running afoul of the DEI ban.
Texas colleges receive billions of dollars in federal grants, which they depend on to pay for research. By securing these funds, schools can recruit high-quality staff and strengthen their reputation; for some they are crucial in their quest to elevate their status as research institutions.
Many federal grants require applicants to describe their efforts to make their fields more diverse, or explain how their research benefits underserved communities.
In FAQs to support staff and faculty, University of Houston administrators offered some talking points to help them keep these grants in a post-DEI reality. Officials recommended emphasizing the school’s compliance with nondiscrimination laws and its efforts to support low-income and first-generation students.
Despite these efforts, university leaders say it is difficult to balance the demands of the DEI ban with the expectations of grant funders.
“We have had difficulty dealing with grants,” Daniel H. Sharphorn, vice chancellor and general counsel of the University of Texas System, told lawmakers this month. “I don’t know if we’ve learned enough to know what the impact will be.”
[Under scrutiny from legislators, Texas university leaders attest to how they’re complying with the state’s DEI ban]
Texas Woman’s University has provided similar talking points to address staff concerns about how the DEI ban could impact college accreditation, a status that indicates schools are offering quality education programs and giving their students access to federal financial aid. To recertify their accreditation, which is required every ten years, all public universities must prove they meet an accrediting agency’s standards, which may include DEI requirements.
The primary agency for institutional accreditation in Texas, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, is one of the few accreditors that does not have a DEI-related standard, meaning Texas colleges are not at risk of losing accreditation with that agency lose if they comply. with the DEI ban, said Rosalind Fuse-Hall, the accreditor’s director of legal and government affairs.
But Texas higher education institutions could still run into trouble with other agencies that provide accreditation for specific college programs and question schools’ DEI efforts, Fuse-Hall said.
In addition, some university systems explained how they have changed their training policies, revealing that they are taking different approaches to comply with the new law.
The University of North Texas System has eliminated all voluntary DEI training it used to offer through LinkedIn. The system said in its written response to senators that it has developed a program to scan voluntary training offerings for DEI-related keywords and automatically remove any keywords that come up as a match.
Texas Woman’s University, meanwhile, will continue to provide faculty with access to professional development libraries that contain DEI training modules, as long as participation in those trainings is “truly voluntary,” according to the school’s response.
Lawmakers have yet to indicate whether they are satisfied with the universities’ responses, but have previously said they are willing to pass more bills to strengthen enforcement if they believe schools should do more to comply with the ban.
The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.
Disclosure: Texas State University System, University of Texas System, University of Houston and University of North Texas have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Here you will find a complete list of them.
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