Education leaders huddle to make diversity, inclusion efforts work ahead of new law

Texas lawmakers banned offices of diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, in public universities. Thursday, university leaders in North Texas gathered with officials from area school districts to let them know those programs will be repackaged to fit with the new state law. Some programs, they said, will look strikingly similar to what's already happening.

Many in the group gathered by Senator Royce West, (D)-Dallas, agreed diversity efforts will continue without an official DEI office or DEI positions.

“I’m hoping some of the DEI activities will be quote-unquote repackaged and relabeled and continue to do the work,” Sen. West told NBC 5.

In June, Texas became the second state to ban DEI offices at public universities when Governor Abbott signed Senate Bill 17. Throughout the debate, supporters of the bill worried DEI programs would exclude white and Asian students, put too much focus on race, and promote ideas of social justice.

Beforehand, Governor Greg Abbott warned state agencies not to implement DEI policies favoring one demographic over another and that "employment practices based on factors other than merit" were against state law.

Lt. Governor Dan Patrick told NBC 5 earlier this year he didn't have a problem with the "diversity" part of DEI. He did, however, have a problem with the "equity" part, which he feared created a system of quotas based on factors other than merit. When passed, the senate author of the bill, Sen. Brandon Creighton, (R)-Conroe, said with the days of "racial profiling in university hiring are behind us."

DEI offices are fairly common across the country's campuses. Supporters say they help find and keep a diverse group of faculty members and assist students from non-traditional backgrounds to succeed. The University of North Texas closed their DEI office after the new law. The bill requires higher education state regulators to study how the new law impacts enrollment and retention every two years.

Officials from the University of Texas System, University of Texas at Arlington, and the University of Texas at Dallas met with point people from Duncanville, Dallas, Mesquite, DeSoto and other area school districts.

President of UT-Dallas, Richard C. Benson, told NBC 5 the university will continue to mentor and support diverse staff, faculty, and student body. Sometimes, he says, those programs will be the same as before just under different names.

"If you knew what we did rather than what we call it, I think you would like it and I think you would admire it," said Benson.

Benson told the group gathered in a sky top office in south Dallas, SB 17 made three buckets: programs universities can keep, programs universities need to change, and programs universities cannot do anymore.

One of those programs they can no longer do, according to Chancellor of the University of Texas System JB Milliken, like required diversity statements in the hiring process.

"Those things are pretty clear," said Milliken.

Many aspects of the recruitment and support programs under DEI will still be similar.

"Expanding pipelines to all of our high schools, expanding student support, getting high school kids committed earlier on to college; those are increasing right now and they'll continue to increase," said Milliken.

Sen. West emphasized universities will still try and recruit diverse and non-traditional students from North Texas high schools.

“I don’t want everyone within the sound of my voice to think it’s all about race - because it’s not. There are veteran affairs and making sure certain students know how to navigate a school.”

He pointed to a "worse case" scenario at Texas A&M. Earlier this year, that university had to pay $1 million in a settlement after a deal fell through to hire a well-known Black former New York Times reporter to lead the university's journalism school.

“They hired the best candidate but the politicos outside didn’t want that person to have the job. And it cost Texas A&M a million dollars and taxpayers a million dollars and a lot of embarrassment," said Sen. West.

Universities must comply with the new law by Jan. 1.