On February 7 Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a warning to state agencies and public universities announcing that using Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives during the hiring process was illegal.
On February 22 the University of Texas System, made up of 13 institutions across the state, announced that it would pause its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies to ensure that they were not violating any laws. UT System Board Chair Kevin Eltife explains that the pause comes from the basis that “certain DEI efforts have strayed from the original intent.”
According to the UT Austin Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion website, 22.9% of students are first generation, 24.2% Hispanic/Latinx, and 5.2% Black. The faculty and staff statistics are not as diverse though. When it comes to non-tenure track, assistant, associate, and full professors, 53% – 78% identify as white, with full professors having the least amount of diversity. The goal of the DEI initiatives is to promote a diverse makeup of faculty and staff that aim to provide the most adequate resources and support to marginalized students on campus.
On the same website, UT Austin President, Jay Hartzell states that “our university has made great strides in its commitment to diversity and inclusion in recent years, but we have much more progress to make.” The DEI initiatives were working to foster that as well as promoting representation on all 13 university and health campuses across the state.Â
Unfortunately, as a UT student who double majors in Government and RIM (Race, Indigeneity, and Migration), fears about how far the monitoring of DEI policies will go have already started to take over. I have had a number of friends, coworkers, and even professors mention their concerns about not only this initiative taking place in hiring processes but in our curriculum as well. This has also raised concerns about the resources that will be limited. As a Latinx low-income student, I am in a number of organizations that are staffed by other people of color that provide me with scholarships, mentorship, academic support, and so much more. Without these staff who can offer support and advice based on shared experience, I would be missing out on so much. Pausing the DEI initiatives carries a huge impact on thousands of students apart from the UT system.