University of Louisville president informs school community of plan for state anti-DEI law
The University of Louisville is moving to comply with an anti-DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) bill after the Kentucky state legislature overrode Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto.
The legislation, House Bill 4, would ban public universities 'from expending any resources on diversity, equity, and inclusion or discriminatory topics,' according to a bill summary.
The University of Louisville is moving to comply with an anti-DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) bill after the Kentucky state legislature overrode Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto.
The legislation, House Bill 4, would ban public universities “from expending any resources on diversity, equity, and inclusion or discriminatory topics,” according to a bill summary. The law would also compel universities to eliminate DEI offices and positions.
State legislators passed the bill in mid-March before Governor Andy Beshear vetoed the measure a week later, calling his decision an “act of love.” However, Kentucky House and Senate officials easily overrode the veto on March 27.
To comply with the new law, the University of Louisville has created four work groups to review separate aspects of the university’s activities, according to the Louisville Courier Journal.
The university “remains committed to its mission and values to be inclusive for all,” President Gerry Bradley said in an email, according to the Journal. “While some things are changing, who we are, what we believe and the values we hold dear have not and will not change.”
The university operates at least two offices that may be in violation of H.B. 4: the Office of Institutional Equity and the LGBT Center.
The LGBT Center offers several scholarships that give preference to students based on their identity. The Dawn Wilson Scholarship, for example, is “awarded to subsidize the cost of higher education at the University of Louisville for undergraduate LGBTQ+ students of color.”
The “LGBT Center is committed to dismantling cisheteropatriarchy and other systems of oppression,” the group’s mission statement says. “We strive to affirm LGBTQ+ students, staff and faculty through an anti-racist lens, rooted in social justice and intersectionality.”
Both the Office of Institutional Equity and the LGBT Center provide land acknowledgments at the bottom of their web pages.
According to the Journal, university administrators are also reviewing the Department of Education’s recent “Dear Colleague” letter, which warns of federal action against universities that continue to promote DEI, and reinforces the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling against affirmative action.
Many state legislatures have passed anti-DEI laws in recent years, aiming to curb colleges and universities from promoting what they consider discriminatory activities. Campus Reform maintains a page tracking the progress of these bills.
Oklahoma legislators are also considering banning DEI initiatives at public universities through legislation that would prohibit “diversity, equity, and inclusion positions, departments, activities, procedures, or programs to the extent they grant preferential treatment based on one person’s particular race, color, ethnicity, or national origin over another’s.”
Campus Reform contacted the University of Louisville for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
