Texas is one of five states that recently passed laws regarding DEI programs. At least 20 other persons are considering it.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – A ban on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in higher education has led to the layoffs of more than 100 staff on Texas college campuses, a move that has been echoed or expected in lots of other states where lawmakers are implementing similar policies in years a very important election 12 months.

Universities across Texas rushed to implement the changes after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed the bill into law last 12 months. On April 2, the chancellor of the 52,000-student University of Texas at Austin – one of the largest college campuses in the US – sent an email saying the school was closing the Department of Campuses and Community Engagement and eliminating jobs to comply with the ban, which entered into force on January 1.

More than 60 employees at the University of Texas at Austin have been laid off because of this of the law, according to the Texas Conference of the American Association of University Professors. The group said it had compiled a listing based on the staff affected and that the number may very well be higher. The university authorities refused to confirm the number of positions eliminated.

In response to questions from The Associated Press, officials at other schools indicated that between Texas A&M University in College Station, a complete of 36 positions were eliminated; Texas Tech University at Lubbock; Texas State University at San Marcos; University of Houston; Sam Houston State University in Huntsville; and Sul Ross State University in Alpine. Officials said nobody was released; people were assigned to latest job positions, some layoffs and vacancies were closed.

At the starting of the week, the authorities of the University of Texas at Dallas announced that roughly 20 jobs could be laid off in accordance with the law. University officials declined to comment on what number of of those positions are currently filled.

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, a Republican, praised the University of Texas’ actions in a post on social media platform X. “This is a victory for common sense and proof that the Legislature’s actions are working,” Phelan wrote.

Texas is one of five states that recently passed laws regarding DEI programs. At least 20 other persons are considering it.

Florida was the first to enact a ban last 12 months, with the vocal support of then-Republican presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis, who often derides DEI and similar diversity efforts as “woke” policies of the left. In response to the law, the University of Florida announced more than a dozen layoffs last month.

University of Wisconsin regents reached an agreement with Republican lawmakers in December to cut DEI positions on the system’s two dozen campuses in exchange for getting funding for workers raises and construction projects. The agreement imposed a hiring freeze on diversity-related positions until 2026 and reallocated more than 40 diversity-related positions to focus on “student success.”

Republican lawmakers who oppose DEI programs say they’re discriminatory and promote left-wing ideology. Some hope this issue will resonate with voters this election 12 months. Democratic DEI advocates say the programs are needed to ensure colleges meet the needs of increasingly diverse student populations. The party’s lawmakers have introduced about two dozen bills in 11 states that will require or promote DEI initiatives.

Texas’ anti-DEI bill, which Abbott enthusiastically signed into law last 12 months, prohibits training and activities conducted “with respect to race, color, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation.” Additionally, the law, also often called SB17, prohibits employees from making employment decisions based on race, sex, color or ethnic origin and prohibits the promotion of “differential” or “preferential” treatment or “special” worker advantages to people based on these categories.

SB17 states that the ban doesn’t apply to teaching academic courses and research. That’s why Professor Aquasia Shaw was so surprised when she heard last week that her supervisor was not going to renew her contract. Shaw stated that she was not given a reason for the termination, but given the timing, she suspects it’s due to the latest law.

Shaw taught classes at the intersection of sociology, sports and cultural studies at the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education at the University of Texas at Austin. Her faculty page on the university’s website states that her interests include “sociology of sport and cultural studies, sport management and diversity, social inclusion and social justice.” The course she taught this semester was titled Race and Sports in African American Life. However, she said she has not been involved in any DEI initiatives beyond teaching.

“I was under the impression that teaching and research were protected, so… I try to wrestle with that thought and deny that that couldn’t be the reason I was targeted,” she said.

In March, Republican state Sen. Brandon Creighton, the creator of SB17, sent a letter to the boards of regents of public universities across the state, inviting them to testify in May on changes made to achieve compliance. He included a warning that renaming programs reasonably than repurposing them wouldn’t be sufficient.

Creighton’s office didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.

The bill’s impact was felt in Texas even before it went into effect. In anticipation of this, officials at the University of Texas at Austin modified the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement to the Division of Campus and Community Engagement last 12 months. The name change didn’t put it aside – it closed this month. School officials said some of the division’s projects could be moved and others could be closed. They didn’t provide specifics.

Shaw said she is the only person of color in her department. She said she saw on X that other university employees had been laid off and contacted them. At least 10 other terminated faculty and staff contacted are also from minority groups, she added.

Losing her job was an enormous blow to Shaw, who already had classes scheduled for the summer and fall. She said her supervisors had previously told her they hoped to extend the contract.

“I’m very disheartened to see that exactly what I was worried about has happened,” Shaw said.

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Texas’ post-Texas ban on diversity, equity and inclusion led to layoffs of more than 100 employees at state universities. This article appeared first on TheGrio.