Texas law prohibits public colleges and universities from establishing or maintaining a diversity, equity, and inclusion office.
Public universities across Texas have slashed hundreds of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) jobs and freed up tens of millions of dollars, university administrators told state lawmakers.
At a May 14 hearing before the Texas Senate Subcommittee on Higher Education, public university leaders tried to demonstrate their effort to comply with a new law aimed at dismantling DEI offices and programs in taxpayer-funded higher education.
Since the law took effect Jan. 1, the University of Texas (UT) system’s nine academic universities and six health institutions have closed 21 DEI offices, dissolved 311 full- and part-time positions, and canceled a total of 681 DEI-related “contracts, programs and trainings.”
“To date, based on the institutional responses, we estimate that over $25 million will be saved or reallocated to other university-mission-related purposes,” UT System Chancellor James Milliken said in his testimony before the committee.
Other university leaders also reported that defunding DEI initiatives means more money at their disposal. The Texas State University System saved $3 million after eliminating their DEI programs and positions, while the University of Houston System freed up about $750,000.
The law, known as SB 17