The Emily Taylor Center and The Office of Multicultural Affairs, The Center for Sexuality and Gender Diversity are to be Merged
Go Anti-Woke, make KU go Broke
HB 2105 and Its Effects
In April of this year, the Kansas State Legislature passed HB 2105. HB 2105, also known as House Bill 2105, is a bill that has immediate and profound effects on post-secondary educational institutions. It prohibits these institutions from hiring faculty or other applicants based on a “DEI Pledge” and from making staff pledge support for or oppose a political ideology. Furthermore, it restricts Universities from granting or denying financial aid and refusing admittance based on the viewpoints expressed in the pledge or statement. The Bill also mandates Universities to make all approved training materials for students, teachers, faculty, and staff public. This Bill not only targets a non-existent issue in Universities, DEI Pledges, but also provides a clear legal pathway for reactionaries to report Universities to the State Board of Regents, which will then pass it on to the State Attorney's office and sue Universities, compelling them to halt all Diversity, Equity, or Inclusion pledge or statement.
This Bill is such a disaster because not only will it expand the ever-increasing war on public Universities, but it will force Universities to erase centers of gender and sexual diversity, women's studies programs, and inclusive policies that combat systemic inequality. The legal avenues presented in the Bill will allow right-wing reactionaries the legal ability to mass report universities for being too "diverse," a term that the Kansas State Legislature did not even bother to define. There is no mention of false reporting, no fine or penalty, and no compensation to the falsely accused party. This could lead to a significant loss of educational opportunities for students and faculty.
If this Bill was made in good faith, it is a failure because the key offense that is meant to be remedied by this Bill, DEI pledges, is not defined and is so vague that a simple statement celebrating campus diversity could be used to punish the University. However, this Bill was not made in good faith; the State Legislature made it to punish Universities for being too accepting of diversity, a move that could significantly harm the progress of diversity and inclusion in higher education
HB 2105 and KU
So, what will HB 2105 do to KU? According to insider information from a KU Staff member, there is already confusion about how training is supposed to be updated per HB 2105 caused entirely by the fact that there are no legal definitions for what constitutes DEI Pledges or if they are even allowed to talk about Diversity, Equity, or Inclusion in training. This lack of clarity and potential confusion is a significant issue that needs to be addressed. According to the same insider information, the KU Legal Department is the primary editor behind the training manuals.
KU announced today via email that the Center for Sexuality and Gender Diversity (CSGD), the Emily Taylor Center for Women and Gender Equity, the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA), and the Student Involvement and Leadership Center (SILC) would be consolidated into the Student Engagement Center. It is important to note that under HB 2105, these centers would stillbe allowed as they are enforcement mechanisms for Federal Civil Rights Protections on campus, and as such, not under the purview of the Bill.
Consolidating the four centers to create the Student Engagement Center is worrisome because the announcement is incredibly vague and raises several questions, such as whether similar roles will be considered redundant, how will one office suite house all staff members of the four centers, how will funding be allocated, will this consolidation be a merger of departments where the SEC is the overarching head and there will be smaller agencies that take the roles of the former centers, and was this always the plan to cut costs.
Comments
Post a Comment