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Indianapolis Star
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Indianapolis Star
'Trigger words': Gov. Braun report cites hundreds of axed DEI references in state policies
Hundreds of initiatives, trainings or grant programs that Gov. Mike Braun's administration has found to adhere to "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion" principles have been eliminated from state government, according to a 135-page report unveiled July 9. From internal newsletters to some professional development opportunities, the purging of DEI policies stems from an executive order Braun signed during his first week on the job, echoing one at the federal level by President Donald Trump. His order banned any state spending on programs that grant or endorse "preferential treatment" based on characteristics like race, and required every state agency to identify and eliminate all DEI-related positions, activities or procedures that previously existed. The DEI backlash has been a predominant theme of 2025, with legislators passing a new law prohibiting publicly funded institutions from taking actions based on an individual's "personal characteristic," such as race, religion or sex. By the numbers, this report identified: More than 350 "cases" of DEI initiatives, 60 of which are required by state law 70 trainings or instructional programs that have been eliminated 34 grant programs that contained DEI-related conditions on the funding, which will no longer be applicable 200 "initiatives" within state policy or procedures that have been eliminated (for example: recruitment) "Diversity and equality are hallmarks of what we believe as a country, but these top-down DEI mandates led to division and inefficiency by forcing decisions to flow through this office whose purpose was to achieve a political goal, rather than focused solely on maximizing results for Hoosiers on the kitchen table issues that affect their lives," Braun wrote in a letter to Hoosiers topping the report. "Our Merit, Excellence, and Innovation standard puts merit and results at the forefront, and all Hoosiers have the same chance to get ahead with hard work under this level playing field where results matter above everything else." What DEI practices are being removed from Indiana state government? The report is replete with examples of trainings being removed from office intranets, former news releases being removed from websites and references to "diversity" being removed from internal policies or recruitment criteria. For example, the State Budget Agency says it will remove the reference to diversity from its guiding principle of "leveraging diversity by seeking and embracing different perspectives and constructive feedback with humility, respect, and intellectual honesty.' Some removals, including those impacting state-issued grants, have ramifications for third parties. For example, a recipient using STEM Teacher Recruitment Grant funds from the Commission for Higher Education to recruit Black teachers will not get any more money for this purpose when their grant expires next month. Here are some other examples of what the report highlights: The Professional Licensing Agency will direct the Indiana Real Estate Commission to create a new rulemaking process to remove DEI 'to the extent that they can do so without violating the federal Fair Housing Act." Currently, real estate brokers seeking to keep their licenses must complete continuing education requirements that include cultural diversity and fair housing practices, 'including fair housing laws.' The Department of Workforce Development's internal intranet, which houses internal documents and resources for staff, had past newsletters from a since-disbanded DEI committee. 'These newsletters have been removed,' according to the report. The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered its employees tuition reimbursement to pursue extra education. Some of these professional development programs "showed preference to individuals" based on race and other characteristics, so the IEDC revoked or denied approval to three employees' opportunities. The Indiana Department of Education asked both Smarter Balanced, a standardized testing vendor, and the Consortium for School Networking, a national organization for technology leaders, to remove DEI references from the websites and documents for these outside groups. The report states that both organizations complied with IDOE's request. The Indiana Department of Health is keeping the statutorily required Office of Minority Health, but eliminated 19 contractors for the office, along with "maternal health equity coordinator" and "disparities coordinator" positions. The report even delves into the minutiae of meeting minutes, including from one meeting of the Indiana State Board of Nursing, where a nursing education coordinator reported about a site visit for Purdue University in which she 'overheard' the concept of DEI from faculty and students. It makes note, too, of seemingly almost-violations: The Indiana Adjutant General's Office administered something called the Hoosier Youth Challenge Academy which had 'public-facing rhetoric' describing the program that used 'trigger words' like 'cultural diversity,' 'inclusivity' and 'equity," though the program itself didn't establish requirements or eligibility that was based in Braun's definition of DEI. A big exception A number of instances of DEI noted in the report that cannot be changed relate to the state's supplier diversity program, which is enshrined in state law. Many requests for proposals or bids for public works projects include requirements that applicants prove their attempt to hire subcontractors who are certified as Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises and Indiana Veteran Owned Small Businesses. The Governor's Commission on Supplier Diversity, created by state statute in 1983, sets these participation goals for state contracts. Senate Bill 289, this year's aforementioned anti-DEI bill that outlawed "actions" on the basis of race and other characteristics, specifically exempted the MBE/WBE and IVOSB programs. The author of the bill, state Rep. Chris Jeter of Fishers, told IndyStar that's partially because many businesses "have come to rely on" these programs, on the books for more than 40 years, for their livelihoods. "Given feedback from other members and stakeholders, I didn't believe it was something we should eliminate immediately without further discussion," he said. "We'll continue to have those conversations and receive feedback on the program, and how we can best serve Hoosiers."
Indianapolis Star
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Indianapolis Star
'Academic freedom is under assault': Indiana educators fear degree cuts will redefine higher ed
As the state and federal government continues to tighten its grip on university operations, Hoosier faculty and staff say the mass shuttering of degree programs across the state is another step toward eroding higher education outcomes and infringing on academic freedom. Six public universities will cut or consolidate about 400 degree programs, or nearly 20% of the state's offerings, the Commission for Higher Education announced June 30. That's in response to a new state law approved earlier this year to eliminate degrees with low numbers of graduating students. Over three years, undergraduate programs must average 15 graduates, seven for a master's degree program and three for a doctorate program, in order to automatically continue being offered without needing approval from the state. More cuts could still be coming. University faculty and staff across the state told IndyStar they believe these cuts will deter students and drive away faculty—further contributing to the brain drain state leaders are trying to curtail. And they said the lack of appreciation for specialty fields and humanities will hurt student outcomes by shrinking their worldview and reducing soft skill and critical thinking development. "We're not just talking about what professors can or can't teach," Ball State professor Timothy Berg said. "This is about the freedom of students to study the important subjects that contribute to a good economy and a good society." State leaders have said the legislation will "streamline" degree program offerings to be in line with the state's economic goals and responsive to student demand. Gov. Mike Braun said in a press release that the move prepares students for "career opportunities in the most in-demand fields." The Governor's Office did not respond to an IndyStar request for comment regarding academic freedom concerns. Some professors and staff told IndyStar that they believe this legislation is an example of the government overstepping its role to dictate curricula, but not everyone said it is an explicit violation of their academic freedom. However, they all said the larger movement to constrict higher education is. "Academic freedom is under assault broadly," said Carl Pearson, a staff member at Indiana University-Bloomington. "That isn't just in Indiana. That's a national problem." Academic freedom is defined as the ability for an academic institution's faculty and staff members to build curriculum, research and pursue knowledge without interference from government officials and administrators, according to several First Amendment organizations. Several U.S. Supreme Court cases have labeled academic freedom as protected under the First Amendment. Indiana's Republican supermajority has passed a number of bills reshaping how Indiana's universities function. Many new laws, including the required degree cuts, are part of a wave of trendy, conservative polices sweeping red states. In the past two years, the Indiana Legislature has codified a contentious bill mandating "intellectual diversity" on campus, a ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, new tenure productivity standards and a change that makes faculty governance groups solely advisory. Indiana University, too, has seen specific legislation that removed the ability for three trustees to be alumni-elected and barred state funding from touching the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction. Academic freedom advocates said this recent law, which was a last minute addition to the budget taken without public testimony, is another step to devalue higher education. "When lawmakers tie a university's ability to offer programs to minimum enrollment numbers, they're not just making budget decisions. They're narrowing the scope of inquiry," said Amy Reid, a senior manager of PEN America's Freedom to Learn program. "It may not look like censorship, but it chills academic freedom just the same." Though the legislation is strictly focused on graduation numbers, the liberal arts will see the most cuts and consolidations, especially in language and cultural studies programs. Regional campuses were also significantly affected since the quotas apply to all public universities, regardless of the size of the student body. "Our institutions want to ensure the programs they're offering are responsive to student demand and fit the needs of Indiana's evolving economy," Commissioner for Higher Education Chris Lowery said in a news release. "The primary beneficiaries of this work will be students, who face an overwhelming number of degree programs as they make their educational and career decisions.' This is part of shift away from shared governance between universities and their faculty, which has traditionally decided what students learn in the classroom. Professors called the idea of prioritizing industrially in-demand degrees over others "shortsighted." Shifting students toward certain degrees for economic development purposes is a misunderstanding of the role of higher education and the economy at large, faculty and staff said. Faculty and staff also emphasized that students, particularly those in graduate programs, potentially won't attend Hoosier universities at all because they'd rather attend their specific program elsewhere. "We're basically removing those things as things that your students can study," Berg said. "We're really hamstringing ourselves with future opportunities for this shortsighted goal of saving money or reducing programs for efficiency." While faculty and staff said economic development is an important piece, they disagreed that higher education's sole purpose is to funnel students into careers. Pearson said higher education is meant to create all-around educated citizens who think critically about issues facing their communities. "That's a fundamentally different idea of what a university is," Pearson said. "(State leaders) want to create laborers. They want to create a workforce." A PEN America column published earlier this year argued that laws in Iowa and Florida prioritizing college degree programs' return on investment is a form of censorship to target specific programs and limit the free exchange of ideas. "We are already seeing a lot of pressure to eliminate programs that don't have this immediate visible cost benefit sort of return," Berg said. "It's going to push this idea that education is simply about job skills rather than helping students grow up and grow out so that they can be real contributors to a good society that we all want." Purdue Fort Wayne professor Noor O'Neill teaches anthropology and women's studies, which are two programs slated for consolidation. She said limiting educational opportunities to what's best for economic development won't achieve the outcomes leaders desire and students will be left without needed critical thinking skills. "It's definitely an attack on academic freedom in the sense that they're not allowing us to teach what the faculty believe needs to be taught," O'Neill said. "They're really putting pressure on narrowing the curriculum." It's largely unclear what the future of many of these programs will look like. Many departments are expected to be folded under a more general umbrella degree, while others may become concentrations rather than a standalone program. Some could be outright eliminated. Following the bill's passage, faculty and staff said they have not been given much direction from their university's administration, and any communication about department cuts and realignment has come from department chairs and other school-specific leaders. The uncertainty and larger wave of legislation focused on higher education, academics said, will likely cause their colleagues to leave voluntarily. Berg said he's seen faculty leave already due to the lack of transparency and the feeling of being abandoned. He and others said they felt their administrations could have done more to demonstrate the need for their fields and fought to keep them alive. "I've never felt more abandoned and alone in that what I do doesn't matter," Berg said. Others, like Pearson, are waiting to learn what will happen to their departments and whether there will be layoffs. O'Neill worries this law will be used as an excuse to layoff faculty and staff who have certain political leanings or say things the university doesn't like. She said all faculty are already censoring themselves in the classroom in response to the new laws. Another staff member at Indiana University told IndyStar that the stress and uncertainty within higher education will likely cause an exodus of students and academics, including himself, out of the state over the next five years. "I don't see higher ed as being the kind of place for academic freedom, academic inquiry that it used to be," he said. "In states like Indiana, it's going to be about technical training—making sure that your teaching, your research aligns with what politicians in Indianapolis think it should be about." The USA TODAY Network - Indiana's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Commissioners preview changing higher education landscape
The Commission for Higher Education held its regular meeting Thursday, detailing various changes during the 2024 legislative session. (Getty Images) Members of the Commission for Higher Education met in Hammond on Thursday for several hours to detail new laws and review the changing landscape for higher education institutions, notably slimmed-down budgets, more state oversight and shifting criteria for certain scholarships. Like most portions of the two-year budget, state funding for higher education took a 5% hit in the final days, triggered by a grim forecast that predicted $2 billion less in revenues over the next biennium. Two scholarship programs stayed flat, which Brooke Kile described as a 'huge win' for commissioners. Both the 21st Century Scholars program and the Frank O'Bannon Grants aim to make college more accessible for Hoosier students. 'It's a win for higher education; it's a win for Hoosier businesses that need talent,' said Kile, CHE's senior associate commissioner for business solutions. However, unused dollars allocated to the Frank O'Bannon fund can now revert back to the general fund, a change from previous years. CHE will be permitted to transfer that money to other programs. 'What we were spending was … $130 million a year out of a roughly $168 million appropriation. With this new ability that we received starting the next fiscal year, we are allowed to spend up to the full appropriation,' said Chris Lowery, the state's commissioner for higher education. 'That is significant, additional help for low-income students.' In addition to the 5% reduction for some other scholarship programs, CHE's budget line and individual allocations to each public institution were reduced along with restoration and rehabilitation funding. Also tucked into the budget was language abolishing the Governor's Workforce Cabinet, an initiative touted by former Gov. Eric Holcomb. Instead, the higher education body will take up many of those duties and align the state's educational goals with business needs. Though the state's educational institutions will be exempt from new contracting rules advanced as part of an accountability and transparency measure, CHE itself will have to operate under the requirements for documenting bids and federal funding. Under a separate law, CHE will also be required to submit a report examining the utilization of physical facilities at state educational institutions, including an analysis of classroom spaces, laboratories and more. One of the biggest changes to the operation of the state's public institutions will be enhanced tenure reviews tied to 'productivity.' Such scrutiny will include teaching loads, time spent on instruction and graduate student oversight, and the research produced by a faculty member. State law now requires that if these criteria are not met, the faculty member 'shall' be placed on probation and could be dismissed. Additionally, professors must publicly post their syllabi. Schools will no longer be required to have diversity committees under Senate Enrolled Act 289, which also impacts certain scholarships geared toward supporting minority students. In an attempt to still reach those students, the legislation defined 'underserved counties' to include Allen, Lake, Marion, St. Joseph and Vanderburgh. Certain students from those counties may still qualify for the minority scholarships. Another new higher education law will require several state agencies to collaborate and create a public dashboard detailing secondary programs, such as career and technical education and adult high schools. Such reports must include information related to participation, costs, completion and employment outcomes for students. As the author of Senate Enrolled Act 448, Terre Haute Republican Sen. Greg Goode highlighted the measure as one with bipartisan support during the 2025 session before the commission on Thursday. He described it as an effort to help universities focus on training the workforce for high-demand priorities such as life sciences, microelectronics, semiconductors and more. 'This is a way to help encourage and inspire department chairs, from my perspective, to grow our enrollment,' said Goode, who previously worked at Indiana State University. The bill would also study whether the state should have minimum admission requirements for Hoosier students. Under state law, the commission must also publish its recommendations for tuition and fee increases across the schools it oversees within 30 days after the state budget is enacted. While CHE always recommends a 0% floor increase, the maximum hit a high of 4.7% in 2009 during the great recession. Following the recommendation of Gov. Mike Braun, commissioners have opted to direct schools to keep tuition and fees flat for the next fiscal year. 'I know that's a real challenge for our institutions, and I'm very sensitive to that. But I think the most important thing is what we've been striving for through our whole agenda: increasing enrollment and getting more Hoosier students to go to college.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
