On Wednesday, July 9th Kansas State University (K-State) provost Jesse Perez Mendez released a statement regarding SB 125, the state's annual budget bill that hid anti-transgender legislation behind a wall of financial allocations. The statement outlined some of the many changes being put into place including a restriction on the use of state funds to promote anything related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). The Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR), which oversees state universities, defines DEI as any University Activity excluding curriculum instruction and research,
where such University Activities are intended to intentionally give preference to individuals or groups, to the exclusion of others, on the basis of race, color, or national origin.
only impact of this bill that K-State detailed to its faculty and students was in their announcement was a new change to its policy on employee email signatures restricting pronouns and “gender ideology". Not mentioned in this statement is how the university intends to implement the several other changes mandated by the law including:
1) the elimination of any positions that relate to DEI;
2) the elimination of any mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities relating to DEI;
3) the elimination of DEI training requirements; and
4) the cancellation of state grants and contracts relating to DEI.
Mendez closed her statement by tacitly acknowledging the changes may spark emotional responses and that she was looking forward to engaging with the campus community. Kansas universities, like all liberal institutions, have a tendency to try and play “good cop” to the legislature’s “bad cop.” By complying with harmful policies while also claiming that they are doing their best to understand our grief, they can assuage their guilt while saving their skin without having to stick up to fascists. Ultimately, the outcome is the same– marginalized groups are thrown out, and administrators remain unaffected knowing their substantial salaries are secure. Fear of legislative retaliation permeates every university statement that willingly goes along with KBOR and Kansas state’s blatant infringement of our rights to freedom of speech and expression.
Ultimately, Kansas universities and all capitalist institutions stand for nothing but their own financial agenda– not the wellbeing of their students. This was why institutions agreed to institute DEI in the first place. Studies about the impact of diversity and inclusion on the workplace show “companies that embrace diversity and inclusion outperform their peers and in the long run succeed and profit from the same.“ Despite this brief alignment of profit and social justice, the legislature quickly moved past neoliberal financialization to conservative fundamentalism. Financially bound the legislature, the administrations of K-State and the University of Kansas (KU) are built to be opaque to the public and complicit in fascism. There is no democratic input from the staff or students who are essential to the function of the university. In fact, they keep us in the dark as much as possible to quell input we could have if we were educated. When the KU closed the student fee funded Center for Sexuality and Gender Diversity last year, they did not consult administrators in the Office of Diversity Equity and Inclusion or students until after the decision was finalized. We demand their universities be transparent in their decision making processes and announce the changes that will be affecting their community much sooner in advance. It is harmful to sit on this information and refuse to consult the people being impacted.
Bills like this will continue to impose harm, but they require willing participants. K-State’s University Mission, which is approved by KBOR, states that they “embrace diversity” and are committed to “aspirations of an increasingly diverse society”. Directly contradicting their mission, K-State, while regulating pronouns, says:
If, after additional resources are shared, an employee refuses to comply, [the supervisor] may contact Employee Relations & Engagement to assist with guidance around disciplinary action as needed.
This burdens direct supervisors with additional work micromanaging email signatures while not being compensated for the addition to their job. We know that Kansas schools are at risk of being defunded if they do not comply, but there were no measures put into place to better enforce such a strict, new rule.
Before this bill, K-State had already signaled it would be willing to comply. The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion was changed to the Office of Access and Opportunity while faculty with DEI and DEI related words in their titles were given new titles and position descriptions. Perhaps the most drastic of decisions was the closing of the LGBTQ+ Resource Center, also known as the Spectrum Center. Thomas Lane sent out a letter July 23 announcing the closing of the Spectrum Center effective July 31, but in reality the center has been closed since before the 14th of July. The previous director left, and the school was left with an interim director whose contract eventually expired leaving them working for free. The school exploited this free labor, and the labor of students during the year between the time when the previous director left and the closure announcement while failing to hire a new director, knowing that they were going to close the Center in the end. It was a failed virtue signal with the ultimate end goal of tearing away student-support on campus. Shutting down a vital resource for queer students is a devastating decision to make, especially in a time where it is so pertinent that queer students be reminded that they are valued and not up for debate. It is plainly obvious that Kansas universities have been virtue signaling to their queer students over the last decade. Setting up statements to indicate to its students and staff that they were supportive of DEI and marginalized peoples when it benefited their bottom line, but falling on its back as soon as there was any pushback. Their University Mission is just false words meant to satisfy the status quo. It was never about equity or morality, it was always about control.
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