Battle for Diversity: Texas Faces Legal Challenges Over SB17 and University Staffing

Several organizations and state legislators gathered this afternoon to debate the implications of Senate Bill 17, which prohibits diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at Texas public universities. Members of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus believe the state is going backward.

Representative Ron Reynolds, Chairman of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, stated that Senate Bill 17 is an affront to the state’s remarkable diversity. “Our diversity is our strength.”

Last Monday, the University of Texas in Austin fired 66 staffers from its old diversity, equality, and inclusion programs.

Last Thursday, CBS Austin met with SB 17’s author, State Senator Brandon Creighton. After issuing a letter demanding compliance on behalf of the Senate Education Committee, he referred to it as a result of change.

“We have to make sure our universities are the best, the most innovative, the return on investment for research and are published professors being hired based on merit,” he said. However, state lawmaker Gina Hinojosa, who serves on the House Public Education committee, describes it as a divisive conspiracy that must be allowed to succeed.

“I am so proud of the students who have shown leadership on campus, who have come together and organized each other and found their strength and their power,” Hinojosa said in a statement.

Dr. Brian Evans, a UT professor, is the American Association of University Professors’ Texas State Conference President-Elect. He claims that the terminations caught everyone off guard, especially since all of the individuals who lost their employment had already been assigned to alternative positions at UT.

“They did not deserve to be the victims of partisan political fights from state leaders,” Evans went on to say. “Keep in mind, these are folks who work a livelihood.” Gary Bledsoe, president of the Texas NAACP, went so far as to term it First Amendment retaliation.

“It seems like a vast majority of the people losing their jobs are female,” Bledsoe said in an interview. “And we think a majority of the people losing their jobs will be racial and ethnic minorities.”

Creighton is pushing back, claiming that DEI violated the First Amendment.

“If you refuse to take a mandated communist political allegiance oath, you should not apply here. “That is exclusive,” Creighton stated. “That is a stifling impact on free expression. And if you limit free speech, you don’t have inclusion.”

Reynolds is urging UT to rethink its decision and expects the legislature will take action.

“It is the worst kind of leadership where you use Black and Brown and the LGBTQ community as political pawns for your political agenda,” Reynolds went on to say.

The Texas NAACP encourages anyone who has lost their employment to contact the Texas Conference of the AAUP while they consider legal options. And, with other Texas colleges following suit, including UT Dallas this week, this may not only be decided in the next legislative session but also in the courts.