SALT LAKE CITY — A controversial bill introduced in the Utah State Legislature seeks to replace Diversity, Equity and Inclusion offices on college campuses with new ones intended to focus on a broader range of students.
"We're focusing on every student individually," Rep. Katy Hall, R-South Ogden, the primary sponsor of House Bill 261, said in an interview with FOX 13 News.
The bill, made public on Thursday night, reworks DEI initiatives that have come under fire from Utah political leaders including Governor Spencer Cox. Its sponsors said they would prohibit "diversity statements" in job applications.
"We're saying we can’t have statements that we've seen. We’re also looking at trainings, mandatory trainings in all government institutions across the board," Rep. Hall said.
Recently, the University of Utah made moves to abandon such statements in hiring. The Utah System of Higher Education also passed a resolution supporting "free expression" on campuses.
The biggest part of the bill would essentially re-brand DEI offices on college and university campuses in Utah as "student success" offices. Sen. Keith Grover, R-Provo, disputed they were abolishing DEI offices entirely.
"I don’t know if abolish... it's probably not the right word, it's more of capturing more students into what was originally in those offices to make sure everyone succeeds," he told FOX 13 News.
Sen. Grover and Rep. Hall said the new student success offices would focus on all at-risk students, not just a particular classification of student.
"Sometimes it can happen when we get into defining individuals and putting them into certain categories, that we by nature exclude others that quite frankly should have fit into those," Sen. Grover said.
But the bill is already generating pushback. Darlene McDonald, who heads the 1Utah Project and is part of the Utah Black Roundtable, said she has issues with the bill as it is written.
"The distinction there is making sure that this new office, this new entity protects everyone," she said. "You cannot do that if you don’t have an understanding of what DEI is. That is our biggest fear. That is what we have learned as we’ve had these conversations at the school board, local as well as state, even when we had this conversation at the beginning of what they thought was 'critical race theory.' You have to first to understand what it is you’re attacking."
McDonald said she and other groups would be rallying people on Utah's Capitol Hill to speak out about the impacts of these bills and push for changes. She worried the legislation would end up doing the opposite of what lawmakers intended by stripping resources away from students from marginalized communities, as well as sending a message to some people that they don't belong in Utah.
"That will impact not only communities of color, but people with disabilities, our veterans community and so forth," McDonald said.
On Utah's Capitol Hill, House and Senate Democrats blasted the bill and said it could impact the state's economy.
"It is crucial to recognize that this bill transcends race and ethnicity; it is about limiting opportunities for all Utahns. The impacts of this bill stretch far beyond higher education, directly affecting our public schools and all government entities. It is crucial to understand the message this bill sends to our communities, many of which have been historically marginalized and underrepresented," Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla and House Minority Leader Angela Romero said in a joint statement, urging people to speak out on the bill.
Governor Spencer Cox told FOX 13 News in an interview Friday that he believed the bill was moving in a positive direction.
"We believe in diversity and in equality and inclusion. These are really important values to the people of Utah," he said. "You can do that without discriminating and student success is what we should be focused on at the universities, no matter what your skin color is, making sure we’re providing opportunities for marginalized communities and others, anybody who is struggling."
Rep. Hall said she and Sen. Grover have already been engaged with community groups on the bill's language and its intent. The ACLU of Utah said in a statement Friday it would "vehemently oppose efforts that threaten to strip away essential components of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) from educational institutions."
Rep. Hall insisted her legislation was designed to expand opportunities for people and not limit them.
"Beautiful words: diversity, equity and inclusion," she said. "But, unfortunately, they have been politicized."
