Lawmakers continue to question Kentucky universities about diversity, equity and inclusion

Lawmakers continue to question the role of diversity, equity and inclusion on college campuses after failing to pass laws that would have banned such initiatives and offices earlier this year.

At the interim joint committee on education on Tuesday, the presidents of the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville, Western Kentucky University, Eastern Kentucky University and Murray State University presented information and took questions from legislators about DEI — diversity, equity and inclusion.

It’s a signal of what legislators could be focused on in the next legislative session, although presentations from presidents and questions from the meeting were varied and not strictly focused on DEI.

The meeting comes weeks after both UK and NKU have eliminated their offices of diversity.

UK dissolved its Office of Institutional Diversity in August, saying the change came after hearing from legislators and other stakeholders who express concerns about the role of DEI. Those who formerly held jobs within that office will move into new roles on campus, along with several other policy changes at UK, including ending mandatory diversity training at the university.

One week later, NKU announced a similar move, eliminating its Office of Inclusive Excellence after the university’s chief diversity officer resigned. NKU cited similar reasons as UK, saying they were anticipating similar bills targeting DEI in the upcoming legislative session.

The University of Louisville is the only school that took place in Tuesday’s meeting that has an office related to DEI, the Office of Institutional Equity. That office was created last year in place of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, said President Kim Schatzel.

Questions asked Tuesday by lawmakers include:

• What problem was UK attempting to solve by eliminating its Office of Institutional Diversity?

• Have changes been made to the DEI plan, which is required to be submitted to the Council on Postsecondary Education by state law, in recent months?

• What mandatory training exists for students and university employees related to DEI?

• How does the geographic location of the university impact its approach to diversity?

University presidents pointed to their graduation and retention rates as evidence of success among their students, and emphasized there is no required DEI training at their schools. Multiple presidents emphasized the need to be welcoming to all people, and creating an environment where every person has the chance to earn a degree.

Related to the DEI plan, which Rep. Jennifer Decker, R-Waddy, asked multiple presidents about, they said they had not made changes since submitting the most recent plans, and would work with CPE to ensure they were meeting standards.

Anti-DEI bills failed last year

Earlier this year, two bills were proposed in Kentucky would have blocked all DEI initiatives that promoted “discriminatory concepts” and would have forced public colleges and universities to dismantle and defund DEI offices and positions. Senate Bill 6, which was aimed at restricting DEI offices at public universities, failed to pass on the last night of the 2024 legislative session.

Decker, who sponsored one of the anti-DEI bills earlier this year, argued last spring that DEI initiatives represented a “failed policy” that made “college more divided, more expensive and less tolerant.”

In March, the Kentucky Attorney General said public universities’ use of certain DEI policies violated the U.S. Constitution and the Civil Rights Act. Drawing on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, the case which struck down affirmative action last year, Attorney General Russell Coleman said using “underrepresented minorities” as a metric for funding state colleges is unconstitutional.

Following that, a law was passed barring the Council on Postsecondary Education from considering race in its performance-based funding model, which determines how state funding is distributed to public universities and community colleges.

CPE then changed metrics in its performance-based funding model to remove “race-based metrics” from funding consideration, giving more weight to low-income bachelor’s degree produced and introducing degrees earned by first-generation students and non-traditional students into the model.