Kansas House passes bill to end DEI statements in university admissions and hiring
On March 21, the Kansas House of Representatives passed a bill to prohibit Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion statements for public university admissions and hiring processes.
'Instead of a merit-based approach, universities have chosen to embrace ideologies that discriminate against those who do not agree,' Representative Steven Howe has stated.
On March 21, the Kansas House of Representatives passed a bill to prohibit Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) statements for public university admissions and hiring processes.
The bill passed by a vote of 81–39, with Republicans almost entirely voting in favor of the bill and Democrats overwhelmingly opposed to it. The bill has now gone to the Kansas Senate where it is currently with the Committee on Ways and Means.
House Bill 2460 prevents colleges from providing advantages to students, faculty, staff, and applicants based upon them “making a statement of personal support for or opposition to any political ideology or movement, including a pledge or statement regarding diversity, equity or inclusion.”
“People don’t want to be discriminated against because they might not have that experience,” Representative Steven Howe told The Kansas City Star. “Some of the postings I’ve seen have nothing to do with diversity, equity or inclusion.”
“Instead of a merit-based approach, universities have chosen to embrace ideologies that discriminate against those who do not agree,” he argued.
The bill appears to come in response to the extensive DEI programs that Kansas colleges have adopted in recent years.
According to NBC News, a legislative audit in February found that the six public universities in Kansas spent $45 million on DEI programs, which comprises 1.6% of their overall spending.
Representative Howe has also justified the legislation’s passage on the basis that faculty have in some instances been forced to adopt specific political viewpoints in order to have a chance of being hired at Kansas universities.
“This bill is not about the merits of DEI. It is not,” Representative Howe told the Kansas Reflector. “DEI is mentioned in the bill, because that’s where we identified the problem. There is evidence that the universities were, in fact, requiring this as a condition for employment.”
H.B. 2460 also includes a clause that would allow the Kansas Legislature to impose a fine on universities that do not comply with the provisions against DEI statements. The proposed legislation provides for a $10,000 fine for each instance in which an admissions decision or a faculty hiring decision is meaningfully affected by an ideological or political statement.
To this end, the bill states that the “district court of any county shall have jurisdiction to enforce any order or finding of violation” of the law, including by “[r]equiring the institution to comply” and “imposing a civil penalty in an amount of not more than $10,000 for each violation.”
[RELATED: Anti-DEI movement mirrors rise of societal pushback to leftism: ANALYSIS]
If enacted, the law would apply to public colleges but not private institutions.
Initially, the financial penalty was slated to be $100,000, but this figure altered after debate in the House, the Kansas Reflector reports.
Campus Reform has contacted Kansas University, Kansas State University, and Wichita State University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
