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The political attack on diversity, equity and inclusion programs in higher education continues as both the University of Kentucky and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln announced Tuesday that they will dissolve their DEI offices.
Kentucky president Eli Capilouto said his decision was a proactive move to avoid the imposition of harsher measures by conservative lawmakers; though the state’s General Assembly failed to pass legislation targeting DEI programs in the spring, Capilouto said he expects the Legislature—which has a Republican supermajority—to pursue similar bills next year.
The Office of Institutional Diversity will be replaced by the Office for Community Relations, which will no longer make statements on political or partisan events or issues.
In addition, Kentucky will end mandatory diversity training and no longer require prospective employees to write diversity statements as part of the hiring process. No jobs will be eliminated because of these changes, officials said.
“We strive to be a community where all people, no matter the background or perspective, feel a sense of belonging,” Capilouto told The Lexington Herald Leader. “We must do this while also protecting academic freedom—the idea that scholars and all members of the university community must always be free to inquire, to discover, to teach and to evaluate as they gain and impart understanding and knowledge.”
Nebraska officials expressed similar reasons for dissolving the DEI office, which also means letting go of the flagship’s first and only vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion.
Chancellor Rodney Bennett, who is Black, said in a campuswide email that he “fully grasp[s] the weight of this decision and its implications, but a centralized approach to this work is no longer right for our institution.”
Nebraska’s move comes as part of a broader restructuring of the executive leadership team.
The two institutions follow in the footsteps of the University of Missouri at Columbia, which announced last month that it would terminate its DEI office and which has faced significant scrutiny from students since.
