Rep. Carl Tepper (R-Lubbock) has introduced legislation to effectively ban Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) offices from operating with taxpayer money on the grounds that it supports "reverse discrimination" contrary to the purpose of higher education.
The author of House Bill 1006, Tepper said he supports freedom of opinion and debate on campus but his bill would disallow universities from spending taxpayer funds on what could become a one-sided political agenda.
"The purpose of higher education is to facilitate students' discovery, improvement and dissemination of knowledge," Tepper wrote in the bill. "Although the State of Texas is home to many world-class universities, certain public institutions of higher education have fallen short in their duty to allow intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity."
The practice of diversity, equity and inclusion has become so widespread that DEI offices are popping up on Texas campuses, where they can interfere with the true purpose of higher education, he said.
Toward that end, he said, "DEI offices use public funds to practice woke discrimination, self-segregation and division. I filed House Bill (HB) 1006 to ensure our public universities remain politically neutral and do not waste taxpayer dollars on divisive political agendas."
Under the legislation, which Tepper introduced in December, public institutions of higher education would be banned from operating DEI offices. "While I strongly believe that public universities should allow a wide variety of debates and opinions, public universities should not use taxpayer dollars to inculcate students with certain politically divisive values," he said.
According to the bill text, HB 1006 is "relating to protected expression, intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity at public institutions of higher education," and would allow someone to sue those who ignore the mandate. Tepper said he wants colleges to remain politically neutral.
"Diversity on college campuses is in itself a noble mission, but the practice of reverse discrimination and hostile attacks on contemporary America is counterproductive and wastes public resources," he said. "Texas public universities have a large minority and international student body; I pray this tradition continues, and I suspect that it will – with or without these offices of questionable mandate."
Another argument against DEI offices on campuses is the expense of running them at a time when higher education costs are ever rising.
"With the exponentially increasing costs of higher education, the State of Texas should cease any and all wasteful spending on activism that, in practice, will exacerbate racial division and disharmony. We are proud Americans and Texans, and public dollars should in no way counter that fundamental viewpoint," Tepper said.
In 2021, the Texas Legislature passed a bill against Critical Race Theory (CRT), although some are skeptical about whether it's working, The Texan reported. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has said he isn't satisfied with the progress on this issue and that he wishes to "eliminate it (CRT) from public schools".
According to The Daily Signal, Tepper's bill would bar universities from discriminating against someone based on their "immutable characteristics." Tepper said university "departments are running amuck practicing 'reverse racism'", such as in 2021, when Texas Tech's DEI Office hosted "anti-racism" training, where attendees were separated into groups based on race, the story said.
According to Austin Journal, Ilya Shapiro and Christopher Rufo, fellows at the Manhattan Institute, say state legislators should propose a bill to eliminate DEI offices altogether, proposing instead a set of four directives as “model legislation”. These directives would include banning all DEI-related offices and programs, trainings and DEI statements used in hiring as well as putting an end to racial preferences.
Representing District 84 which is entirely within Lubbock County, Tepper is a real-estate representative, U.S. Air Force veteran and graduate of Texas Tech, according to his House biography.