How Texas' DEI ban has impacted San Antonio universities
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The University of Texas at San Antonio has eliminated at least 21 programs and policies related to diversity, equity and inclusion since Texas banned them this year, according to documents Axios obtained through an open records request.
Why it matters: The records show the scale at which local universities used DEI to recruit and retain students and faculty.
- Programs that have been cut or need to be modified range from bias training and scholarships to student community groups and staff interview questions.
Context: Senate Bill 17, which took effect in January, bars public universities from maintaining offices or programs dedicated to supporting historically underrepresented groups like people of color or members of the LGBTQ+ community.
- Critics of the programs say they are discriminatory and emphasize assisting only certain groups.
- Texas was the second state in the country, after Florida, to implement such a law.
The big picture: Texas' DEI crackdown left administrators scrambling to comply and spurred fear of layoffs and program changes among students and staff.
State of play: UTSA is reviewing another 100 programs that might require modification or aren't allowed at all under the new law.
- UT Health San Antonio has eliminated at least four programs and modified another two because of the ban.
What they're saying: UTSA spokesperson Joe Izbrand said it's possible "in some situations, that the program was already scheduled to conclude for other reasons" not related to the state's DEI ban. He did not answer further questions or respond to a request for an interview.
- A spokesperson for UT Health San Antonio declined to answer questions.
Zoom in: Unlike UT Austin and UT Dallas, both of which laid off dozens of employees, no one at UTSA or UT Health San Antonio has been involuntarily terminated because of the new law, the documents show.
Yes, but: UT Health San Antonio did close applications for multiple full-time positions it was hiring for, and at least one person resigned voluntarily, per the documents.
Programs eliminated at UTSA include:
- Speaker presentations and DEI trainings
- Student participation in the San Antonio Black International Film Festival
- The Equity Advocacy Initiative, launched in 2020. Documents show it included plans for new courses about structural inequities in San Antonio, including a "demography course on how patterns of COVID-19 map onto historical legacies of racism in San Antonio."
Programs eliminated at UT Health San Antonio include:
- A faculty recruitment program that helped repay loans for some professors
- A small group discussion program that addressed diversity in medicine.
Other programs UTSA is eyeing for modification include:
- A drag bingo event
- The university's Fiesta event, Día en la Sombrilla, which raises funds for student organizations
- The Racial Justice Book Club
- Brothers United, a community group for male students of color
- UTSA participation in the Black Student Athlete Summit
- The vision statement for UTSA Libraries Special Collections, which says that collecting priorities include social activism, Mexican American history, regional LGBTQ+ history, African American history and more.
Plus: UT Health San Antonio changed a scholarship to remove requirements that recipients come from underrepresented backgrounds.
The bottom line: Texas' DEI ban is impacting a wide range of programming beyond the office closures announced publicly.