Arizona Board of Regents strips DEI terms from policies
The board voted to approve the motion at a June 12 meeting.
Several public Arizona universities have also complied with the anti-DEI Trump executive order.
The Arizona Board of Regents has voted to remove mentions of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and other related terms from its policies in order to comply with one of President Trump’s executive orders.
The vote, which took place during a meeting on June 12, affects 10 policies. The changes include replacing “equity” and “inclusion” with “equality” and the removal of references to “ethnic minorities” and “affirmative action,” The Arizona Republic reports.
[RELATED: Indiana AG warns private universities their DEI policies may violate state, federal law]
The board referred to President Trump’s January executive order aimed at banning universities that receive federal funds from promoting DEI.
“As our biggest funder and our largest amount of funding provided — a funder responsible for faculty jobs and compensation, student grants and financial aid and loans and so much more — the federal government has made its intentions clear,” board executive director Chad Sampson said during a prior meeting, according to the Republic.
In comments made to Campus Reform, board Associate Vice President Megan Gilbertson said that, “The policy updates remove outdated references to revoked federal requirements.” She also noted that, “It also more clearly describes the board’s continued compliance with laws prohibiting discrimination and our ongoing commitment to providing college access to all Arizona students.”
Several students spoke against the new policy during the meeting’s public comment session, urging the board to resist the executive order.
“Even as courts around the country reject these attacks, you’ve chosen to move forward anyway,” one University of Arizona student told KJZZ Phoenix. “You’ve chosen to not fight for us.”
State legislators have also attempted to pass legislation with the same goal of banning DEI at public universities. Earlier this year, the state legislature approved S.B. 1694, which would have made public universities “ineligible to receive state monies in any fiscal year in which the higher education institution offers one or more courses on diversity, equity and inclusion.”
However, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed the bill in May, calling the bill vague and warning it risks state funding for public schools.
Meanwhile, some public Arizona universities have already moved to comply with the federal government’s policies on DEI.
[RELATED: Harvard Medical School rebrands DEI office to ‘Culture and Community Engagement’]
The University of Arizona removed mentioning of DEI from its website as well as rewrote a land acknowledgement in February. The university also explicitly named the Trump executive order as the cause of the change.
In a similar move, Arizona State University also removed mentions to DEI terms in March, including moving an LGBT resources page under a student organization and renaming identity-based graduation ceremonies.
