U. Texas at Austin President Announces Major Cuts to School’s DEI Programs
“The positions that provided support for those associate and assistant deans and a small number of staff roles across campus that were formerly focused on DEI will no longer be funded.”
This is due to changes in Texas law, but it still counts as a win.
WINNING: The University of Texas is closing down its DEI division, forcing some DEI deans to return to teaching, and eliminating other DEI positions altogether.
We will not stop until DEI is abolished and salted over. pic.twitter.com/1eLE45HNa9
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) April 2, 2024
From the UTA website:
Organizational Changes
Dear UT community,
Soon after the passage last year of Senate Bill 17 — which prohibits many activities around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) — the University embarked on a multiphase process to review campus portfolios and end or redesign the policies, programs, trainings, and roles affected by the new law. Our initial focus was to ensure we made the required changes by SB 17’s January 1 effective date, but we knew that more work would be required to utilize our talent and resources most effectively in support of our teaching and research missions, and ultimately, our students.Since that date, we have been evaluating our post-SB 17 portfolio of divisions, programs, and positions. The new law has changed the scope of some programs on campus, making them broader and creating duplication with long-standing existing programs supporting students, faculty, and staff. Following those reviews, we have concluded that additional measures are necessary to reduce overlap, streamline student-facing portfolios, and optimize and redirect resources into our fundamental activities of teaching and research.
For these reasons, we are discontinuing programs and activities within the Division of Campus and Community Engagement (DCCE) that now overlap with our efforts elsewhere. Following these changes, the scale and needs of the remaining DCCE activities do not justify a stand-alone division. As a result, we are closing DCCE and redistributing the remaining programs. This means that we will continue to operate many programs with rich histories spanning decades, such as disability services, University Interscholastic League, the UT charter schools, and volunteer and community programs. Going forward, these programs will be part of other divisions where they complement existing operations. We know these programs and the dedicated staff who run them will continue to have positive impacts on our campus and community.
Additionally, funding used to support DEI across campus prior to SB 17’s effective date will be redeployed to support teaching and research. As part of this reallocation, associate or assistant deans who were formerly focused on DEI will return to their full-time faculty positions. The positions that provided support for those associate and assistant deans and a small number of staff roles across campus that were formerly focused on DEI will no longer be funded.
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Comments
DEI lovers will threaten to transfer/quit. I say bonus perks.
DEI/CRT is such a fraud.
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
It will be interesting to see if those institutions trimming DEI staff will then exhibit lower or reduced increase tuition.
As an alumnus and longtime UT watcher and critic, my advice is not to celebrate just yet.
What provoked uber-coward Jay Hartzell to issue this statement? A few days before, SB17 author Sen. Creighton issued a statement calling out a lot of instances at state schools where employees were caught admitting / bragging how they were evading SB17 by cosmetically rebranding, etc. Creighton has scheduled hearings in May and has threatened dire consequences if that’s what’s going on (which it most definitely is, albeit what he can do under SB17 is an open question given that it has no meaningful enforcement provisions).
Hartzell’s protectors in the state legislature (the RINO Phelan machine that controls the state house by allying with Democrats) is on the ropes politically right now (a lot of its members got primaried and lost, and even Phelan and his chief flunky on higher ed (John Kuempel) are facing primary runoffs that smart money says they will lose). If that happens, it could be open season on UT, including looking at redistributing its gargantuan Permanent University Fund (second in size only to Harvard’s).
So with Sen. Creighton on the warpath, Hartzell cannot just stand by while UT employees are bragging about how they are chumping the Legislature. He has to do something, and IMO this is what he’s done to keep the heat off him and UT.
But is it real change? I don’t think so, because the main proponents of DEI at UT (e.g., the excretable Ted Gordon) are still in power. Hartzell remains unwilling to fully embrace SB17, as he still wants to please and placate the DEI crowd.
I’d be willing to bet that a lot of the “dismissed” employees are quietly rehired in nominally different positions later this year after the heat dies down, and a lot of funding gets redistributed to DEI advocates for “research” and similar dodges.
Bottom line: This is definitely not the last word on this story. IMO, Jay Hartzell is a snake who cannot be trusted. If he tells you it’s noon, check your watch before heading to lunch.
Many, many UT alumni in my family. President Jay Hartzell is a duplicitous jackass who will place the people and programs of DEI into other re-named areas and keep trying to bamboozle the state legislature so they keep funding his Marxist programs. They don’t call Austin “Moscow on the Colorado” for nothing.