Kent State to end DEI offices with new state law taking effect
Kent State University will eliminate its three Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) offices in order to comply with a recently passed Ohio law.
Senate Bill 1, which was signed into law in March and will be enforced starting June 27, bans public universities from maintaining DEI offices.
Kent State University will eliminate its three Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) offices in order to comply with a recently passed Ohio law.
Senate Bill 1, which was signed into law in March, bans public universities from maintaining DEI offices.
“To comply with the new state law, the university will be closing several identity-based centers,” Eboni Pringle, the senior vice president for Student Life, said in a message to the school community on June 2. Those “identity-based centers” include the LGBTQ+ Center, Women’s Center, and the Student Multicultural Center.
According to its web page, the LGBTQ+ Center offers Safe Space Ally Trainings, “transgender resources” and an LGBTQ+ Emergency Fund.
The letter indicates that the university will complete the process of eliminating the offices on June 27, when the law takes effect.
The message does not say whether the university will retain any employees currently working for the three offices. However, a university spokesman told The Akron Beacon Journal that the school is giving staff the option of taking another position.
The message also states that the university is still committed to making students feel “affirmed.”
“Although the centers are closing, the Division of Student Life remains deeply committed to fostering student success, student belonging and ensuring continued access to resources, benefits students have consistently associated with the centers,” Pringle said.
Other Ohio universities have announced plans to eliminate DEI offices in recent months because of S.B. 1.
Ohio University President Lori Gonzalez recently released a statement saying that the school would sunset its Multicultural Center, Pride Center and Women’s Center. The university joined Ohio State University, which preemptively complied with S.B. 1 in February.
“I want to be clear that the task ahead for all of us is not to look for ways to recreate the same approaches under a different name,” Gonzalez said at the time. “Rather, the charge is to invent something new that meets the moment and delivers results for our students.”
Other Ohio universities, such as Case Western Reserve University and the University of Cincinnati eliminated their DEI programming in March in response to President Trump’s anti-DEI executive order.
Similarly, Kentucky universities have moved to comply with a recently passed anti-DEI state law. Passed in March, House Bill 4 has led to the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville canceling identity-based graduation ceremonies.
Campus Reform contacted Kent State University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
