Texas Universities Scrap Woke DEI Statements Following Order From Gov. Abbott

The Texas State University system this month ordered the withdrawal of its mandatory Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) statements for hiring in compliance with recent orders handed down by Texas’ Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

The move comes as Republican-led states crack down on woke ideology and as the U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to put an end to affirmative action for higher education admissions.

Austin-based NBC affiliate KXAN reported earlier this month that Texas State University system chancellor Brian McCall said in a letter to university leadership that the DEI statements must be removed from the hiring requirements of the system’s seven institutions.

McCall’s directive followed a letter from Gov. Abbott’s office ordering Texas colleges to comply “with applicable federal and state anti-discrimination laws” in their hiring practices, which includes refraining from any hiring practices that involve discrimination against disfavored races or sexes.

According to KXAN, McCall ordered the removal of “[a]ll language in violation” of “anti-discrimination statutes” from job postings as well as internal and public-facing webpages related to job openings.

McCall also told the university leadership to scrap “the requirement for a diversity statement regarding DEI.”

“Such a statement should no longer be required as part of the campus’ hiring practice,” he said. “To the extent diversity statements have been submitted for current job postings, the statements should not be considered by the hiring committee or administrator.”

The email also told university presidents to look over existing hiring policies and change them where necessary to ensure compliance with anti-discrimination statutes.

The move came after Gov. Abbott’s office in February warned university leaders to get rid of any requirements for hiring based on considerations other than merit.

In a memo obtained by the Texas Tribune, the governor’s chief of staff Gardner Pate said the “innocuous sounding notion of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) has been manipulated to push policies that expressly favor some demographic groups to the detriment of others.”

“Rebranding this employment discrimination as ‘DEI’ doesn’t make the practice any less illegal,” Pate continued. “Further, when a state agency spends taxpayer dollars to fund offices, departments, or employee positions dedicated to promoting forbidden DEI initiatives, such actions are also inconsistent with the law.”

The Texas State University system’s decision to comply with the Republican governor’s orders banning discriminatory hiring practices under the guise of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” come as woke, identity-based policies could be facing serious pushback at the national, not just state, level.

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a pair of cases concerning affirmative action in higher education (also known as “race-conscious admissions policies,” according to the ACLU).

Thanks to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s judicial appointments, the nation’s highest court is currently considered to boast a six-justice conservative-leaning majority. Court-watchers predict the Supreme Court is likely to strike down affirmative action as unconstitutional, forcing universities to exclusively consider merit in their academic admissions.

Reporting from Life News.

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