The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Editorial Board recently published a piece on the "Tyranny of the DEI Bureaucracy" arguing many universities have adopted policies related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), hiring DEI officers that ultimately stifle free speech on campus. The article pointed to a recent incident at Stanford Law School where the associate dean suggested free speech might not be worth the pain caused. Texas lawmakers have introduced a bill to ban DEI offices at Texas public universities.
According to the WSJ Editorial Board, American universities have "institutionalized" critical race theory, along with DEI offices and practices becoming a normal reality on campus. Recently, students at Stanford Law School protested and "shouted down" Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Kyle Duncan who was supposed to speak. After the associate dean of DEI stepped in to deal with the situation, she said, "Me and many people in this administration do absolutely believe in free speech,” but then asked the question, is "the juice worth the squeeze?” implying "whether tolerating free speech is worth the pain it causes." She went on to describe Duncan's speech as "abhorrent, that feels harmful, that literally denies the humanity of people.”
"The Stanford blowup shows how the culture of DEI, and especially its accumulation of power in the bureaucracy, has become a threat to free speech," The WSJ Editorial Board argued. "Stanford students were allowed to harass a guest speaker to the point of calling on a DEI authority to 'sanction their behavior' and 'to enforce ideological conformity.'"
The WSJ Editorial Board cites Jay P. Greene at the Heritage Foundation who found the average major university now has 45 DEI personnel. The University of Michigan has 163 DEI positions. Ohio State University and the University of Virginia have 94 DEI positions. Incidents such as the one at Stanford Law School have caused "political backlash," including Texas lawmakers filing a bill to ban DEI offices on public universities in Texas.
"Most universities now have offices for diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, that exercise a broad writ on campus and act as speech police within the university," The WSJ Editorial Board said.
According to the Austin Journal, Sen. Brandon Creighton, chair of the Senate Committee of Education, filed a bill on March 10 that would effectively ban DEI offices from Texas public universities.
"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," Creighton said in a statement that was tweeted.
The bill also blocks any public office that promotes efforts "designed or implemented in reference to race, color or ethnicity" and bans training or activities "designed or implemented in reference to race, color, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation," except those required under state or federal law. The proposed legislation would also prohibit universities from asking current students, employees, contractors, job applicants and students applying for admission for DEI statements or to endorse an ideology that promotes differential treatment based on race, color or ethnicity.
According to Fox Houston, public universities in Texas, including the University of Texas, Texas A&M, Texas State, the University of Houston and Texas Tech, have announced that they are halting and reviewing their DEI hiring policies due to a directive from the governor.
"In order to ensure compliance with state and federal law, we will not support or use DEI statements or factors in hiring or promotion anywhere in the University of Houston System," University of Houston Chancellor Renu Khator said in an email earlier this month.