**Texas Universities Slash Jobs and Programs in Response to DEI Ban**
**AUSTIN, Texas (AP)** — Following the implementation of one of the nation’s most comprehensive bans on diversity programs, Texas universities have eliminated or restructured hundreds of positions. Officials shared these changes with lawmakers on Tuesday.
In the most detailed public update on the new Texas law, University of Texas (UT) system's leader reported that its nine academic and five health campuses alone cut 300 full- and part-time roles. These campuses also eliminated over 600 programs related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training. “You may not like the law, but it is the law,” stated UT Systems Chancellor James Milliken.
Milliken and other chancellors were called to the Texas Capitol by GOP state senators to explain how their institutions are complying with the law enacted by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott last year. Texas is among roughly one-third of states that have moved to restrict or eliminate DEI initiatives.
In a letter sent in March, Republican state Sen. Brandon Creighton warned that some campuses might be attempting to circumvent the law through methods like renaming positions or offices. “This letter should serve as a notice that this practice is unacceptable,” Creighton wrote.
According to an Associated Press analysis using Plural, a legislation-tracking tool, Republican legislators in about two dozen states have proposed bills to curtail DEI efforts this year. Meanwhile, Democrats have pushed for measures supporting DEI in at least 20 states.
Recently, the flagship UT Austin campus—one of the largest in the country—announced the closure of its Division of Campus and Community Engagement and job cuts to comply with the new law. Earlier this year, the University of Florida similarly announced over a dozen terminations due to a state ban on DEI programs.
Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp made it clear to lawmakers that the legislation is strict: "If you tread back into the bad waters, something bad is going to happen to you."
On Monday, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Board of Trustees approved redirecting $2.3 million in state funds from diversity initiatives to public safety and policing. This decision comes as the state’s public university system anticipates possible changes to its diversity policy before legislative action.
In Oklahoma, the University of Oklahoma’s Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center recently ended its National Education for Women Leadership program due to an anti-DEI executive order by Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt last year. The program had trained over 650 women from various colleges and universities nationwide over the past two decades. “As one of the few women to have held leadership positions in the Legislature since statehood, I believe this program’s elimination is a terrible loss,” said Democratic Oklahoma state Sen. Kay Floyd.