Bill to ban DEI at universities heads to red-state governor’s desk

By Around the Web

Brandon Poulter
Daily Caller News Foundation

A bill to ban diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) departments at state universities and government-funded employers is headed to Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s desk, according to The Associated Press.

The newly passed legislation outlaws trainings that “promote differential treatment” of individuals and will eliminate offices that enforce the tenets of DEI. The bill also requires institutions to remain politically neutral and outlaws the use of diversity statements in hiring, according to the AP.

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“I can assure you, after this legislative session, it will not be happening in the state of Utah, these diversity statements that you have to sign to get hired,” Cox said at a Dec. 20 news conference, according to the AP.

“These diversity statements you have to sign to get hired, I think that is awful, bordering on evil,” Cox said during a televised news conference, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. “We’re forcing people into a political framework before they can even apply for a job with the state.”

University of Utah President Taylor Randall announced Jan. 5 that they’d no longer be using diversity statements in hiring, according to the Deseret News.

Several states have banned the usage of DEI in public universities.

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis banned the use of DEI in public schools and universities in May 2023 and Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott outlawed the practice in June 2023. Idaho banned the usage of diversity statements at universities in April 2023 and the Iowa Board of Regents in November recommended to eliminate DEI programs from state universities.

Republican Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed an executive order outlawing the use of DEI at public universities and at state agencies in December.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a free speech legal group, released a survey in February 2023 showing that half of university professors disapprove of diversity statements and say that they violated academic freedom.

Cox did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

This story originally was published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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IMPORTANT NOTE TO WND READERS: For America’s ruling elites, nothing is more precious, wonderful and life-giving to their great cause than the Jan. 6, 2021 “insurrection” at the U.S. Capitol. It’s irrelevant that the events didn’t come remotely close to constituting an actual “insurrection,” or that both police and over 200 undercover FBI assets provoked the riot – which Tucker Carlson calls a “set-up.” Yet Vice President Kamala Harris still insists the minor riot was just as horrific as the 9/11 terror attacks and Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

WHY are the elites doing this?

It’s not just because convicting, imprisoning, torturing and destroying the lives of hundreds of Trump supporters is meant to terrify and intimidate millions of Americans into submission. And it’s not just because activist judges and bureaucrats in over 30 states are absurdly trying to keep Trump off their state’s election ballots by citing the 14th Amendment’s prohibition against anyone who “engaged in insurrection” from holding elective office.

It’s because the elites’ destruction of America is so rapid, horrendous and obvious that they feel compelled to turn their opponents into monsters – or lose power at the next election. But that doesn’t mean just calling conservatives and Christians “racists,” “white supremacists,” “radical extremists” and “domestic terrorists” as they do continually. They know much more is needed.

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