Republican lawmakers are trying to get rid of all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs across several states. Now at least 30 states have agreed to pass laws to ban these DEI programs.
The University of Texas, Austin has been receiving a lot of criticism concerning its decision to remove all of its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion offices. This move has sparked controversy and has raised concerns among individuals who value these programs.
University Of Texas’ Move To Cancel DEI On Campus
The University of Texas won’t be the first institution to cancel all DEI programs in the state. According to CBS Austin, the president of the American Association of University Professors, Irene Mulvey found this attempt insensitive and decided to call the university out.
While Irene was addressing the school’s decision to cancel DEI policies and fire workers who occupy positions related to DEI departments, she mentioned that the school did all this to comply with Texas’s new law.
This Is Nothing But A Cruel Move
According to reports from an individual with sufficient information about the situation happening on the University of Texas campus about 60 DEI positions were terminated.
Mulvey couldn’t understand the reason behind this decision, she believes that this is nothing but an act of cruelty. One that shouldn’t even be allowed to happen.
Those Who Are Supposed To Help Students Are The Ones Getting Fired
Irene has expressed how unfair the university’s decision was. She mentioned how these individuals were employed for the sole reason of helping the students of the university succeed.
She went on to explain how ironic it is that the same set of persons who were hired to help students are those who are now getting fired. She wants to understand who exactly is supposed to benefit from this move.
How Does This Help The Students?
Irene has a question for the individuals who are eagerly implementing Senator Creighton’s SB 17. She wants to know in what way this decision is supposed to benefit the students.
The DEI program was set in motion to help students from various ethnic groups talk about students of different colors, students who have disabilities, and veteran students.
This Decision Is Going To Be Difficult For Students
Irene laid more emphasis on how the positive impact of the DEI policies is never-ending and how the DEI policies are supposed to provide help to students from diverse communities.
She added that now that these individuals have been fired, it’s only going to be more difficult for those students to get the help they need. These DEI policies can not stand without those individuals who are supposed to help implement them.
An Extremist Extern Government
Immediately after people heard about the new law, University of Texas students began to speak up about how they felt. Some of them had interviews with Fox News Digital. All they could do was condemn the school’s decision, it didn’t make sense to them.
One student went all out to criticize the university for deciding to follow directives and comply with overly extreme policies. The student went on to speak about the decision of the university to lay off DEI employees, an action he labeled as a wrongful termination.
An Action To Weaken Programs That Aim To Support Marginalized Communities
Maddox Real, a student of the University of Texas and a member of the class of 2026 let Fox News in on her thoughts on the present situation in UT. Real mentioned that this action taken by the state is a means to weaken and interfere with programs that have been implemented to help support marginalized communities.
Real went on to say that policies like this have no place in the university campus environment and should have never been passed in the first place.
The Prohibition Of DEI Offices And Statements
This new state law enforces that all governing boards of the state’s public colleges and universities must make sure that they do not have any DEI offices. They also have to stop making DEI statements.
The law also provided for prohibition relating to the institution’s hiring processes and training programs. They have been instructed not to make use of DEI statements during these crucial processes.
This Is Nothing But A Disappointment
Real went ahead to express how disappointed he was in the University Of Texas and its decision to follow these extreme state laws and practices.
He’s shocked that an institution of such influence and prestige is implementing this law instead of actively fighting to protect the rights of the vulnerable students who are affected.
The University’s Multicultural Engagement Center Was Also Closed
The state law has other consequences apart from laying off DEI workers, it has also affected cultural graduations. The university’s Multicultural Engagement Center was also closed as a means to comply with the state law.
The termination of the MEC has also led to the discontinuation of important events like Latinx graduation, Black graduation, and GraduAsian ceremonies.
Students Are Irritated By This Law
Most of the large liberal student population was extremely annoyed by the cancellation of Black graduation. To them, the black graduation was a means for them to celebrate black history and also a means to find the community they belong to.
Canceling this only shows that black students and the black community are not welcome here. And realizing this was pretty upsetting.
The DEI Initiatives Are Supposed To Promote Equality And Inclusion
The DEI supporters have come to argue that the main purpose of DEI programs is to help address the need of an increasingly diverse student society and to also rectify the systemic inequalities that have dug deep into the educational system.
However, Senator Brandon and other DEI critics do not believe this, they believe that these DEI programs are nothing but another form of discrimination.
This Is A Very Important Bill
The laying off of DEI workers came a few days after State Republican Senator Brandon Creighton spoke to the universities about the importance of complying with the state law.
Senator Brandon wrote a letter to express how serious the matter was. He mentioned that the bill is eager to change how the state’s higher institutions operate. They aim to create an environment where admission of students, hiring of staff, and other operations are done on a merit basis.
