Many SEC schools have shuttered their DEI offices in recent years.
The University of Texas, which plays in the SEC championship game against Georgia on Saturday, is based in a state that has a law in effect to outlaw DEI. Texas governor Greg Abbot signed the law in January, closing DEI offices in all of the state’s universities.
There is now almost no trace of any offices or initiatives related to diversity at the University of Texas. The university even released a statement in the aftermath of that law passing, ensuring compliance.
“The University took necessary measures to reach compliance with the law and UT System policy. Vigilant ongoing efforts are necessary to ensure the University’s continued compliance,” the statement read.
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Texas’ opponent, Georgia, is one of many of the conference’s universities to no longer have a DEI office, but something like it.
Last August, the University System of Georgia (USG) voted to ban the use of DEI statements for hiring, and colleges and universities in the state were also told to discontinue the use of DEI terminology in teaching training standards. Then, this past November, the USG proposed to take things further with an even stricter policy revision.
Now, “ideological tests, affirmations, and oaths, including diversity statements,” will be banned from admissions processes and decisions, according to the latest policy revision.
“The basis and determining factor” for employment is now “that the individual possesses the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with the role, and is believed to have the ability to successfully perform the essential functions, responsibilities, and duties associated with the position for which the individual is being considered.”
But the university does boast an office called the “Office of Inclusive Excellence.” One of the objectives of this office is to “Increase enrollment of underrepresented students at undergraduate and graduate levels.”
That office is represented in the university’s athletic department by Assistant Athletic Director for Inclusive Excellence & Strategic Engagement Dr. Courtney Gay. Her previous title was Assistant Athletic Director for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
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The University of Arkansas has a similar situation. Arkansas closed down its DEI offices in April 2023. But the university’s athletic department has maintained diversity initiatives through its “Hogs United” student-athlete and coach advocacy group. According to the group’s website, it focuses on areas of hiring and retention.
“Areas of focus include hiring and retention of individuals from marginalized or underserved groups, messaging from Athletics around topics of diversity and inclusion, working in conjunction with the Human Resources Manager and the Title IX Officer, and keeping up with and supporting relevant research on the topics of diversity and inclusion within Athletics,” the website states.
The state of Arkansas is one of many that hosts SEC schools that could face further DEI restrictions in coming years. Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Jonesboro Republican and co-chair of the Arkansas Legislative Council’s Higher Education subcommittee, last August requested a DEI study to be completed by the end of 2024 with the intention of proposing legislation during the 2025 legislative session, according to The Arkansas Advocate.
Louisiana State University is one of many schools to have removed all DEI language from its university websites and mission statements earlier this year. However, the athletic department has a committee called the Athletics Culture and Engagement Council.
One of the objectives of the council is “for team members to come together to foster an atmosphere that seeks and cultivates diverse perspectives while promoting equity and inclusion.”
DEI as a concept has come under mass scrutiny in 2024, as offices dedicated to it in the public and private sector have shuttered for cost-cutting purposes.
Kemberlee Kaye, the Managing Editor at CriticalRace.org who recently published a report focused on the lingering impact of DEI in SEC schools, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that she has received countless complaints from parents at these schools about how DEI initiatives have affected their families.
The report titled “Leveling” the Playing Field: DEI Initiatives in SEC Football and Beyond,” has archived several examples of publicly-available evidence of universities in the SEC maintaining diversity-based missions despite some state laws that have closed DEI offices.
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“We’ve seen a massive increase in this ideology being pushed across the board,” Kaye said. “In teams and athletic events, I can’t imagine that this fosters camaraderie.”
Universities aren’t the only institutions rolling back DEI initiatives, and during his campaign, President-elect Trump vowed to eliminate DEI programs in federal agencies. In 2020, then-President Trump issued an executive order to ban “divisive” training for federal contractors. And the House Oversight Committee held a hearing last month about dismantling DEI policies.
Over the last four years, the Biden-Harris administration has encouraged DEI initiatives across several sectors of the federal government. In 2021, President Biden widened an executive order directing agencies to assess and “remove barriers” to equal opportunity through DEI policies. Another executive order signed that year was a government-wide initiative to embed DEI principles in federal hiring.
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