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The Kentucky state Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would ban diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the state’s public universities, the Associated Press reported. Now the bill goes to the Kentucky House, which—like the Senate—has a Republican supermajority.
If it passes the House, the bill will ban “non-credit classes, seminars, workshops, trainings and orientations” that, among other things, support the idea that some people hold inherent privilege over others or that promote “division” among races, sexes, religions, creeds, political affiliations or classes, according to The Lexington Herald-Leader. It would also forbid colleges from asking about applicants’ political beliefs during the admissions, hiring and promotion processes.
A separate bill, HB 9, seeks to defund DEI offices, mirroring legislation passed last year in Texas and Florida.
The bill’s passage in the Senate followed two hours of debate; Republicans argued that the legislation is necessary to counter what they characterized as discrimination against conservative students, while Democrats said it would negatively impact the ability of universities to recruit diverse students and teach important parts of history, such as women’s suffrage.
