Conservative lawmakers question funding for "woke" colleges
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
The state's public colleges and universities will soon learn whether their "woke liberal agenda" will affect their state funding.
Why it matters: While it varies by institution, state funding makes up a sizable portion of the budget at public schools like IU, Purdue, Ball State and Ivy Tech.
- Cuts to state support could impact everything from staffing to financial aid at a time when the state is trying to increase the number of Hoosiers getting a post-secondary education.
Driving the news: The House Ways and Means Committee is taking public testimony on House Bill 1001, the state's two-year budget, today.
- The current version of the bill is Gov. Mike Braun's budget proposal.
- House Republicans will introduce their spending plan next week.
State of play: Conservative lawmakers have raised concerns about "liberal" policies or programs on public campuses for years, but this year those concerns are increasingly turning into threats against their state funding.
- State comptroller Elise Nieshalla was among a group calling for IU to be defunded over its continued housing of the Kinsey Institute.
- IU has said it is complying with a 2023 law that prohibited Kinsey from receiving any state dollars.
- Several lawmakers sharply questioned IU and Ball State officials last month during budget presentations over "woke" professors and programming for LGBTQ+ students — including Ball State's gender-affirming clothing closet and IU's Lavender Graduation.
What they're saying: "I get questioned quite regularly, 'Why do we continue to fund these universities at the level we do when they just go against our core values and continue to push a more woke liberal agenda?'" said Rep. J.D. Prescott, R-Union City, during those budget presentations.
- Prescott referenced, in particular, social media posts from well-known economist and Ball State professor Michael Hicks.
- "What can I say to reassure my constituents that the university is keeping their viewpoints in mind, and how can I justify continuing to fund a university that goes against our core values?" he asked Ball State University president Geoffrey Mearns.
- Roughly 40% of Ball State's general fund budget came from state support last year.
The other side: Mearns said the university's values do align with the state's and that Hicks, "like any citizen has the right to express his views, irrespective of whether they align with the values of the institution," Mearns said.
Between the lines: Last year, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 202, which put in place protections against retaliation for tenured faculty's research, regular reviews to ensure the protection of intellectual diversity and prohibitions against professors pushing political views in the classroom.
- Mearns said that both SB 202 and the First Amendment protect professors' rights to "express their personal views in their personal time."
Zoom in: Braun's budget proposal, which cuts $700 million in state spending, holds funding for the state's public higher education institutions flat at their current level for the next two years.
- It also doesn't carry forward any "one-time" spending from the 2023 budget, including $5 million for Martin University.
- The small private school is the state's only predominantly Black institution.
Reality check: It's still early in the process for the budget.
- A final compromise likely won't be drafted until the final weeks of the session in April.