The University of Texas System's Board of Regents put a pause on any new diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, policies at all 13 of its campuses. Three which are in North Texas: UT Dallas, UT Arlington and UT Southwestern.
This announcement comes two weeks after Gov. Greg Abbott's office sent a letter to state agencies and public universities warning them to stop using DEI initiates in hiring policies claiming it violates state and federal discrimination laws. Several groups have been vocal against the memo.
Kevin Eltife, the UT System Board Chairman who is from Tyler, said he's asked all campuses to give the board a report of current policies.
At the beginning of the regents meeting on Wednesday, he said, "To be clear, we welcome, celebrate and strive for diversity on our campuses in our student and faculty population."
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He then went on to state, "I also think it's fair to say that in recent times, certain DEI efforts have strayed from the original intent to now imposing requirements and actions that rightfully so, has raised the concerns of our policymakers about those efforts on campuses across our entire state."
Eltife said they plan to work in any way possible with legislators and would implement any new policies put in place.
The board of regents didn't give any specifics or examples of what policies have been misused.
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“I had lots of questions because it's really hard to respond to a short statement," said Jandel Crutchfield an assistant professor of social work and director of DEI at the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Arlington.
Jandel said the thought of DEI being misused in a harmful way doesn't match up with the research she's studied and wants to know more about the policies that were not used correctly.
"I think it's really important to distinguish between the policy itself and individuals that are misusing the policy for whatever their motives might be, and so I hope that, that remains pure and clear. Because any policy can be misused by any individual, and so looking at bad actors, perhaps, is what the goal could be as opposed to getting rid of any DEI policies," said Crutchfield.
The UT System said it won't take any action until it comes from the legislature.
Across the nation, diversity, equity and inclusion have been used to help broaden the pool of people in the workplace and in universities.
Crutchfield said having people from all different backgrounds brings the added benefit of ideas and perspectives to the table.
"The goal of inclusion is that everyone has a seat at the table, and so it asks us to look around the table and to say, 'Who was missing?'" explained Crutchfield.
“People that are invited to the table, have the accolades. They've earned whatever right it is to be in the room, they're just not often in all of the spaces that they can be."
She said historically speaking, certain groups including people of color, different religions, ethnicities, languages, disabilities, women, LGBTQ, and veterans have been left out
“If we believe in DEI principles, we want to have a discussion and we want to have all people represented at the table, and so I hope that those discussions are in good faith and trying to improve student experiences," said Crutchfield regarding all the dialogue around DEI.
A spokesperson for UT System said they did not have any other comment other than Eltife's statement. There is also no timeline currently of when the board will review each campus DEI policy.
Eltife's full statement is below:
"The topic if DEI activities on college campuses has received tremendous attention nationally and here in Texas. To be clear, we welcome, celebrate and strive for diversity on our campuses in our student and faculty population.
I also think it's fair to say that in recent times, certain DEI efforts have strayed from the original intent to now imposing requirements and actions that rightfully so, has raised the concerns of our policymakers about those efforts on campuses across our entire state. We welcome our elected officials in the legislative session look into DEI policies throughout higher education in Texas. We will work with them in any way possible, and we will certainly implement any new policies the Legislature puts in place.
Given the clear legislative focus, we have paused any new DEI policies on our campuses and have asked for a report on current policies across all our campuses. This will give our board a chance to review the various policies systemwide. We will await any action from the Legislature for implementation by the University of Texas System at the appropriate time and if needed, the board may consider a uniform DEI policy for the entire UT System."
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