State Rep. Brian Harrison (R-Ellis County) spoke on the floor about Texas Senate Bill 17, which aims to ban Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs and hiring initiatives from public Texas universities. Gov. Greg Abbott has been supportive of eliminating the use of tax dollars for anything DEI-related. On May 22, the House passed Senate Bill 17 after 23 amendments failed and only one was adopted (an annual review of the effects of the bill).
"Proud to fight with @RepMattSchaefer to SUCCESSFULLY strengthen the ban on #DEI in #SB17 (after it had been significantly weakened), and I appreciate Sen @CreightonForTX’s leadership on this critical issue," Harrison wrote in a May 20 Twitter post.
According to KXAN News, the Texas House voted to pass SB 17 which prohibits considering race, sex, color, or ethnicity in hiring practices, except when using color-blind and sex-neutral processes as required by state and federal anti-discrimination laws. The approved amendment, proposed by Rep. John Kuempel (R-Seguin) assigns the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board the responsibility of conducting a yearly study for the legislature to assess the effects of SB 17 and offer recommendations. The bill will return to the Senate to approve or reject the changes.
Abbott has reiterated his position in support of banning DEI practices from public universities, as reported by Lone Star Standard. Top Texas universities have also announced they are halting or pausing their DEI hiring practices after a directive from the governor's office earlier this year. The directive came from Gardner Pate, Abbott's chief of staff, who wrote, "Rebranding this employment discrimination as ‘DEI’ doesn’t make the practice any less illegal. Further, when a state agency spends taxpayer dollars to fund offices, departments, or employee positions dedicated to promoting forbidden DEI initiatives, such actions are also inconsistent with the law.”
KHOU News reported that following the public release of the memo, Abbott's office released a statement which read, "The letter from the Governor’s chief of staff is a reminder that state agencies and public universities must follow federal and state law in their hiring practices. Both federal and state law make equity quotas illegal. Equity is not equality. Here in Texas, we give people a chance to advance based on talent and merit. Aspiring to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream, we should not be judged by the color of our skin, but by the content of our character.”
According to the Austin Journal, State Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Montgomery), author of SB 17, said "While every member of a university committee must be treated with equal dignity, so-called DEI offices are in fact the leading threat to true diversity and genuine inclusivity on university campuses," in a statement, which was tweeted on March 10. "Whether a student is from Conroe, Austin or Loredo, a first-generation college student or triple legacy, every individual should be welcome and promoted based on qualifications. The elevation of DEI offices on campuses have only furthered divided and created a chilling effect on open dialogue. This legislation will ensure Texas college campuses are environments that are open to differing ideas, foster meaningful, reasoned dialogue and encourage intellectual discourse."
Legal Defense Fund, a group of civil rights activists, responded to the House passing the bill: "We condemn the Texas House of Representative’s passage of SB 17. The implementation of this misguided measure would be devastating for generations of Texans from all backgrounds. If enacted, SB 17 will undermine the ability of educators and administrators to create a diverse and welcoming campus and threaten the quality of higher education in Texas as a whole." The group argues a halt on DEI will prevent advancing "educational equity" for marginalized groups that have struggled in the past. The letter was signed by NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), Ethnic Studies Network of Texas Core Team, Every Texan, Texas Freedom Network, ACLU of Texas, Texas Legislative Education Equity Coalition (TLEEC), Texas Students for DEI, American Association of University Professors – Texas (AAUP-Texas) Equality Federation – Texas and Texas Faculty Association (TFA).
