In wake of new law, EKU swaps ‘diversity,' ‘inclusion' for ‘viewpoint neutrality'

Yahoo

14-05-2025

Students walk on Eastern Kentucky University's campus in Richmond, May 14, 2025. (Kentucky Lantern photo by McKenna Horsley)
RICHMOND — With approval of its governing board, Eastern Kentucky University became the first in the state to formally adopt policies that bring it into compliance with a Republican-backed state law banning diversity, equity and inclusion practices at Kentucky public universities.
In its Wednesday meeting, the EKU Board of Regents passed a policy to uphold viewpoint neutrality and a resolution showing EKU plans to comply with the recently passed House Bill 4. The board also approved removing words such as 'diverse' from its strategic goals. No board members voted against the measures in a voice vote.
Kentucky public universities have been reviewing HB 4 since its passage by the Republican-controlled General Assembly earlier this year. GOP caucuses in the House and Senate easily had the votes to override Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear's veto of the law, which he said 'is about hate.'
In his veto message, the governor wrote, 'Acting like racism and discrimination no longer exist or that hundreds of years of inequality have been somehow overcome and there is a level playing field is disingenuous.' He also said the law would prevent universities and colleges from investigating allegations of bias except in limited circumstances.
EKU's board members had little discussion on the new policies before they cast votes. Regent Laura Babbage asked questions about how the university will still support students from a variety of backgrounds. She added that she hoped as an institution, EKU 'believes that we have responsibility to our brothers and sisters, regardless of their race, creed, beliefs or whatever the case might be.'
'I'm not speaking for the board. I'm speaking for Laura Babbage, but I am just saying that that is an essential part of who I am,' she said. 'And so as we have issues that come before us that perhaps need a voice, I will, in fact, be that voice.'
EKU President David McFaddin said in response to Babbage that supporting all students would remain a focus of the administration.
'Student success will continue to be our focus. Supporting students — every student — in every way that we can will continue to be a part of the institution,' he said.
The newly adopted university policy — titled 'Institutional Viewpoint Neutrality' — says that EKU 'does not discriminate against individuals or groups based on their social or political viewpoints and values the contributions of all community members to robust dialogue and the free exchange of viewpoints to contribute to an intellectually diverse campus community.' The university may not require anyone to 'endorse or condemn a specific ideology, political viewpoint, or social viewpoint to be eligible for hiring, contract renewal, tenure, promotion, admission or graduation.' Directing the state's public universities to adopt such viewpoint neutrality policies was a tenet of HB 4.
The university policy says that the EKU president has the only authority to issue official statements on behalf of the university, and may designate someone else to issue statements as needed. The board chair has a similar authority to issue official statements of the board. The president and board chair are prohibited from issuing official statements 'on political, social or cultural matters that are not directly related to the operations, mission or legal obligations of the University.' The policy says that any violation 'will be handled through the normal University processes.'
The board also approved changes to the university's strategic goals, removing a reference to supporting 'EKU's diverse learners' and replacing the word 'inclusivity' with 'respect.' The changes also remove 'Inclusion' as a guiding value of the university, which was defined as 'Community engagement, Diversity of people and perspectives, Professional growth, Hospitality, Celebration' and replaces it with 'Opportunity,' defined as 'Community Engagement, Multiple Perspectives and Lived Experiences, Professional Growth, Hospitality, Celebration.'
The resolution approved by the board says EKU will follow the state law. An EKU spokesperson previously told the Kentucky Lantern the university planned to comply with the law.
The bill's primary sponsor, Rep. Jennifer Decker, R-Waddy, said in a statement after filing the legislation that it sought 'to prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion, race, sex, color, or national origin, and ensure that our university campuses are free from the failed and misguided DEI policies that have proven only to make higher education less attainable for Kentuckians.'
In a statement ahead of Wednesday's board meeting, Decker said the law ended 'discriminatory and wasteful practices on our public postsecondary campuses.' Decker added that the law ensures Kentucky public colleges 'provide equal treatment to all of their students and judge students on their individual merits, not on their race, color, or creed.'
'These are institutions of learning and must focus on improving the quality of education on their campuses and increasing enrollment among all Kentuckians,' Decker said.
HB 4 directs the governing boards of Kentucky's public universities to enact a policy by June 30 to meet requirements under the law such as not restricting scholarship eligibility criteria on the basis of religion, race, sex, color or national origin and not requiring or encouraging students to complete courses 'of which the primary purpose is to indoctrinate participants with a discriminatory concept.'
Next year on July 1, each institution must begin submitting annual certification to the Council on Postsecondary Education to verify the institution has not spent money to support DEI programs.
The law largely had support from Republicans in both the state House and Senate throughout the legislative session earlier this year.
It comes on the heels of Republicans nationwide aiming to rollback DEI programs. President Donald Trump has taken actions against such programs, including issuing an executive order
early in his second term aimed at curbing DEI in private sector businesses. More recently, Trump signed an executive order directing the U.S. Department of Education to overhaul university and college accreditation programs to root out DEI standards.
Before the General Assembly passed the law, Kentucky college students held protests against the legislation on their campuses, including EKU. Students also voiced opposition in committee hearings and protests at the Capitol.
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