Bill ending DEI programs at Kentucky universities advances to House

FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) — DEI: There is no shortage of debate around those letters and the politics of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives that, in Rep. Jennifer Decker’s (R-Waddy) view, “Have made our colleges more divided, more expensive, and less tolerant,” as she told lawmakers on the House Postsecondary Education Committee Tuesday.

Decker argues her proposal, House Bill 4, is an “equal protection” bill.

A similar proposal she sponsored last year died in the Senate. This year’s bill would prohibit Kentucky colleges and universities from considering race, national origin, sex, or religion in hiring, admissions decisions, or scholarships. It would also end any funding for DEI-related offices and prohibit any required or incentivized DEI pledges, statements, or trainings at colleges and universities.

A committee substitute removed a private right of action for an individual to press charges and added a review process to be headed by the state auditor to regularly review if institutions are following statute or risk being ineligible for state funding.

“To say that we’ve been trying this for a few years and it’s not working, well, we have many, many, many years that we have to go back and try to undo a lot of years of damage where we have excluded individuals,” Rep. Sarah Stalker (D-Louisville) said.

“Our low-income minorities are not on our campuses to the extent they were before all this started. What’s to blame? I don’t know. This hasn’t helped. And if I were an advocate for the minority community, which I am, this is damaging to the minority community,” Decker said.

Decker argued there’s a lack of return on investment for DEI programs improving enrollment and stated that the 2023 Supreme Court ruling ending race-based affirmative action in college admissions essentially makes DEI programs unconstitutional. Language in the bill specifies that none of the bill’s provisions would apply to academic course content.

Democrats questioned the correlation of enrollment data and argued that there is a bigger message being sent with this kind of bill.

“The historical indicators of what has occurred, particularly with people who look like me and other protected classes in our society. It’s a really serious problem, and I think we’re trivializing it. And that we’re trying to say that this does not matter,” Rep. George Brown (D-Lexington) said. The bill passed committee on party lines and is set for a full House vote as soon as Wednesday.