University of Louisville removes DEI language to comply with state law
The University of Louisville has removed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) language from campus documents and restructured DEI initiatives, as House Bill 4 takes effect.
H.B. 4, which began on June 30, prohibits public universities from maintaining DEI offices and supporting DEI practices.
The University of Louisville has removed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) language from campus documents and restructured DEI initiatives, as House Bill 4 (H.B. 4) takes effect.
H.B. 4, which began on June 30, prohibits public universities from maintaining DEI offices and supporting DEI practices. The university announced at the end of April that it had formed working groups to assess how to comply with the new law.
The board of trustees voted to change language in official documents to reflect the new law in a June 26 meeting, according to The Louisville Cardinal, the school’s student-run newspaper. Additional changes were recorded in the meeting minutes for June 18.
A university spokesman also provided Campus Reform with a list of changes.
The board changed the name of the Kent School of Social Work and Family Science’s “Anti-Oppression Committee” to the “Committee on Ethical Practice and Inclusive Excellence.” It also changed the phrase “diversity and inclusion” to “inclusive excellence.”
The board voted to remove the word “diversity” from the university libraries’ bylaws, changed the name of the School of Medicine’s “Diversity and Inclusion Committee” to “Inclusion and Belonging,” and removed an unmentioned sentence from the School of Public Health’s bylaws.
Mentions of “affirmative action” and “anti-racism” were also removed from school bylaws.
University President Gerry Bradley has said that while complying with H.B. 4, the school is still committed to its diverse campus population.
“I think the thing about it is, we are a diverse community, and we have a diverse faculty body, we have a diverse student body,” the president stated, according to WHAS11. “And one of our strengths is being a diverse and inclusive campus, and we will continue to be a diverse and inclusive campus, and we are going to support everyone in their space.”
[RELATED: University of Virginia AAUP chapter urges halt to board’s elimination of DEI programs]
He also clarified that the law does not require eliminating the school’s LGBT Center or ceasing to celebrate “Black History Month.”
“It’s related to making sure that we didn’t have programs that were targeting one specific group at the expense of another if it’s falling under a protected class,” he continued. “We have to be aware that there’s federal legislation, there are all these things, the laws of the land impact us all in our work and obviously our duty is to comply with them.”
