When Texas college students return to their campuses after the winter break, they’ll discover the lights are still off in their campuses’ diversity offices.

That’s because a new law that outlaws such work at the state’s higher education institutions goes into effect, Jan. 1.

Another 29 laws also will go into effect in the new year that aim to change the economy, tax codes and the criminal justice system.

Dissolving diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at public universities: Senate Bill 17 requires public universities to end so-called diversity, equity and inclusion work. Universities will also be unable to offer training on diversity and inclusion for its faculty and staff, or require diversity statements in hiring processes. Universities must also confirm to the Legislature between legislative sessions that they are in full compliance.

The law’s restrictions do not apply to class instruction, materials needed for federal grant applications or student organizations on campuses, but multiple university officials have said the law has made hiring new faculty more difficult.

  • CaptainProton@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Asshats seem to do this in the death throes of failed ideas. Lose a case and double down with a pile of new laws that take a decade to untangle in the courts.

    This is 100% a replay of racists’ loss on segregation, and it’s happening in both red and blue states on separate issues: as bigots in red stateslose on human rights for classes they dislike and classists in blue states lose the rich having the monopoly on force/self-defense.

    • Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works
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      11 months ago

      They are a rough draft. It’s the sandbox for just how awful a government can treat it’s citizens before they revolt. So far it’s working really well. Except the final draft in 2024.

  • blazeknave@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Can we let them have their freedom so I can stop funneling my tax dollars to their autocratic christofascist fucking messes?

    Seriously… you’re right. I’m a coastal elite douchebag. You were right all along. I get it now. By all means, please go your own way. Don’t let the door hit your electrical grid on the way out

  • Anamnesis@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    While I think this law is overall a bad thing, ending diversity statements is a good thing. They add unnecessary work to an already onerous application process, and mostly serve to just serve to exclude lower class applicants of any race who don’t know the right way to write a diversity statement. In practice they’re mostly a class signifier and should be abolished.

    • Drivebyhaiku@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Ah yes those poor dumb University hopefuls who don’t know how to use google because they are too impoverished to learn how to use a computer and have too much lead poisoning impacted impairments to learn to write a basic essay… To apply for University…

      Did they get rid of Legacy admissions by any chance?

      • Anamnesis@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I mean, you can’t just Google how to write a diversity statement in a way that matches what a university hiring committee wants. It’s like googling how to write an email as a rich alumnus. It’s a deep culture that most people don’t have access to.

        • Drivebyhaiku@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Yes you can. You can actually specify which specific University you are applying to on a search and usually get fairly specific advice and monetarily or connection lacking perspective University students basically make a job and practice of learning that shit for obtaining scholarships and those who feel they want to give back make their stuff known. The ability to research well is selective but so is requiring excellent grades and tests.

          Saying “This job requiring a cover letter disadvantages people because writing cover letters is hard” for a highly competitive job that requires a high level of aptitude in writing as a basic requirement for getting the job is kind of a joke. Meanwhile the fast tracks and leg ups for kids based strictly on who their parents are still in place and represent an actual nepotism problem that creates a privileged class that no manner of personal merit will allow someone to benefit from.

  • NobodyElse@sh.itjust.works
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    11 months ago

    An unpopular opinion I’m sure (for reasons), but do these offices actually achieve anything besides bloating up the already obese administration that sucks money away from the academic side of the university?

    • steveman_ha@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      DEI exercises in other kids of businesses often seem like performative BS, if we’re being honest – IMHO, this is a really legitimate and simple question. Especially considering the impact bloated admin “costs” (salaries, etc) have on students & society (e.g. student loan debt).

      Not reading all the way down, but just wanted to say I think it sucks that you got downvoted for this comment. You’ve got one less from me, anyways.

      But also yeah, they do try and do things that really make a difference. Among other things, they make cross-campus connections to develop initiatives aimed at supporting students from under- represented groups – not just race or ethnicity, but also things like low-income, first generation in your family to attend, etc.

      Things like this can strongly correlate with more distractions, difficulties, and obstacles in students’ lives, compared to observations of students from so-called “privileged” backgrounds. Not providing anything that those students from other backgrounds don’t have access to – quite the opposite actually.

    • Dran@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I work at a large public university. The sad answer is every admin department is incredibly inefficient and DEI is no different. Six people who sit in an office 98% of the time doing things that should be done by a python script, 1% emailing the entire uni mandatory quizzes like “a student in your class called another student the N word, was that bad?” And the final 1% of the time doing things that actually matter.

      • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Six people who sit in an office 98% of the time doing things that should be done by a python script

        That problem exists in nearly every office environment.

  • chitak166@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Crazy how tuition is so expensive and they waste it on shit like this.

    Glad I dropped out before wasting too much money.

      • chitak166@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Yep. One of the greatest decisions I ever made.

        Always funny seeing my friends complain about student debt and people getting their jobs without degrees.

        Sorry you got suckered into wasting money at a time when knowledge is more accessible than ever.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          I dropped out too. It was in no way one of the greatest decisions I ever made. It lead to a series of shitty, dead-end jobs and I’m only lucky my wife has two masters degrees and can always support us. But I’m ashamed that she has to bear a much larger chunk of our expenses than I ever had to.

        • S_204@lemm.ee
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          11 months ago

          I pity the life of the guy who’s bragging about dropping out of college. If that’s one of your greatest decisions, life must absolutely suck but you likely don’t even grasp why or how it would have been improved by university training.

          I guess this is what they mean when they say ignorance is bliss.

          • chitak166@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            I’m sorry you can’t accept that people have done better than you without going to college.