Six states, including one with a Democratic governor, have either banned or prohibited the use of diversity, equity, and inclusion ( DEI ) initiatives in public colleges and universities this year. The process of DEI in higher education institutions has been questionable for several years, most often opposed by Republicans and described by critics, quite as civil rights lawyer Devon Westhill, as an “industry that pushes a left-wing, far-left ideological orthodoxy in largely every area of American life “.In 2024 only, Alabama, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas and Utah either banned or limited the use of such training or use in the application process in their state’s education system. In January, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, signed legislation to ban organizations from engaging in “discriminatory methods” for as” that an individual, by virtue of the individual’s personal identity traits, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other individuals with the same personal identification characteristics”. INDIANA UNIVERSITY COURSE TEACHES PEOPLE ARE INHERENTLY ‘ OPPRESSORS’ BECAUSE OF THEIR RACE, SEX, RELIGIONThe anti-DE I law also banned schools from having any policy, procedure, practice, program, office, initiative, or required training that is referred to or called “diversity, equity and inclusion “.In March, Republican Gov. SB 129 was signed into law by Kay Ivey of Alabama. It prohibits certain DEI offices, as well as the “promotion, endorsement, and affirmation of certain divisive concepts in certain public settings “.The bill bans “divisive concepts”, such as” that any individual should accept, acknowledge, affirm, or assent to a sense of guilt, complicity, or a need to apologize on the basis of his or her race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin” and” that meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist “.The legislation also required that restrooms be used on the basis of biological sex rather than gender identity, and that public institutions of higher education “authorize certain penalties for violation “.Also in March, Indiana adopted legislation to amend the duties of state educational institutions ‘ diversity committees and increase “intellectual diversity”. Additionally, the Indiana House passed a bill that would require educators to” shall not promote in any course certain concepts related to race or sex” ( ReportKansas Gov. Democrat Laura Kelly signed the bill that would have made it law to forbid postsecondary educational institutions from participating in certain DEI-related activities. The bill, passed in April, imposes a$ 10, 000 fine on any public institution that employs DEI practices in faculty hiring or student enrollment processes. ” While I have concerns about this legislation, I don’t believe that the conduct targeted in this legislation occurs in our universities”, Kelly wrote in her passage of the bill. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, another Republican, signed an education-funding bill in May that contained provisions to limit DEI in schools, just months after the state’s board of education began to scale back on such practices in higher education. The bill prohibits “any effort to promote, as the official position of the public institution of higher education, a particular, widely contested opinion referencing unconscious or implicit bias, cultural appropriation, allyship, transgender ideology, microaggressions, group marginalization, antiracism, systemic oppression, social justice, intersectionality, nee-pronouns, heteronormativity, disparate impact, gender theory, racial privilege, sexual privilege, or any related formulation of these concepts”. The Idaho Board of Education unanimously voted in December to require that all institutions “ensure that no central offices, policies, procedures, or initiatives are dedicated to DEI ideology” and that no employee or student is required to declare gender identity or preferred pronouns.