Legislators to revoke funds from DI ofces

SIDNEY LOWRY Managing Editor | @sidney_lowry

Diversity, equity and inclusion offices in Missouri have undergone pressure as the Missouri House banned diversity funding from the state budget at many institutions, including public universities.

Assistant Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion Justin Mallett said the Offce of Diversity and Inclusion had conversations with University ofcials and thinks Northwest should be proactive with preparing for a possible audit. While prepared, he said Northwest doesn’t have much to worry about.

“I think one of the nice things about Northwest is we really don’t use a lot of state funds for diversity and inclusion programming, eforts and planning,” Mallett said.

The budget for these programs come from the Campus Climate Fee that is issued to students alongside tuition. Despite Northwest not having designated state dollars for DEI funding, Mallett said other schools in the state will have to be ready for an audit and some push back on diversity and inclusion eforts.

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“... If you look at the bottom of a lot of those bills as well, there’s also a hit on higher ed because it’s also saying ‘Well, we’re going to review the tenure process’ and … ‘What does tenure look like within all of this, and what is that role going to play?’” Mallett said.

Other Missouri legislators have made moves against diversity efforts in other areas of Missouri. House Bill No. 489, brought on by Rep. Ben Baker, aims to scale back the use of DEI training and ideas. Rep. Doug Richey added to this with House Bill No. 1196, which specifcally talks about ‘protections against ideological discrimination in postsecondary education,’ and stops universities from requiring DEI statements.