Latino and Black leaders in Texas pushed back on claims that diversity and inclusion hiring programs are illegal as the vast University of Texas System put a hold on such programs at its institutions and campuses.
Kevin Eltife, chairman of the system’s board of regents, announced Wednesday that he was delaying new policies on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and launching a review of all of them. The announcement at a board meeting, with no discussion or vote, was reported first by The Austin American-Statesman.
Eltife, a former state senator appointed to the board by Abbott, also a Republican, said that within UT campuses “some DEI efforts have strayed from the original intent to now imposing requirements and actions that rightfully has raised concerns of our policy makers.”
No examples of DEI programs that have strayed were provided at the meeting or in response to an NBC News request.
Eltife’s stop on new policies follows a declaration by Abbott’s chief of staff in a letter dated Feb. 4 to state agencies that DEI “has been manipulated to push policies that expressly favor some demographic groups to the detriment of others.” The letter, first reported by The Texas Tribune and posted on Twitter by KHOU in Houston, went on to say that a state agency spending tax dollars to pay for DEI initiatives and resources connected with them is illegal.
That declaration from a higher education system of 13 institutions and more than 244,000 students is drawing pushback from Black and Latino lawmakers and organizations.
Gary Bledsoe, president of the Texas National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said DEI programs are set up through legal departments and are conservative in nature so as not to run afoul of federal anti-discrimination laws.
“It is a complete misrepresentation to say that DEI programs are illegal and that they violate the Constitution or any statute, because they don’t,” said Bledsoe, who also is a founder of the Black and Brown…
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