The University of Kansas and Kansas State University are ending LGBTQ+ and diversity, equity, and inclusion programs due to a new state law.
A provision in the latest state budget bill, Senate Bill 125, directs all state agencies, including colleges and universities, to end any programs or activities related to DEl. It also bars state employees from using gender-identifying pronouns or anything related to “gender ideology” in email signatures. It doesn’t define DEI or gender ideology, Inside Higher Ed notes, and takes up just a few lines in a 300-page bill. But the universities are implementing it in their own way.
Kansas State announced last week that its LGBTQ+ student center, the Spectrum Center, will close at the end of July. In a campus-wide letter, Thomas Lane, dean of students and vice president for academic success and student affairs, praised the center’s work and said support for LGBTQ+ students will continue.
“Through the dedication of its staff, and the strength of our LGBTQ+ students, faculty, staff and allies, the center has contributed significantly to K-State’s national recognition as a campus that values LGBTQ+ students,” he wrote. “The work carried out by the Spectrum Center over the years has made an indelible mark on our university and on the lives of many in our Wildcat family.”
“Though the center’s stand-alone physical space may no longer be in operation, the Division of Academic Success and Student Affairs remains deeply committed to supporting all our students,” he continued, adding, “Our work remains rooted in the foundational belief that all students belong and matter.”
At the University of Kansas, officials sent out a letter last week outlining the Kansas Board of Regents’ directive to end all DEI activities and remove pronouns from email signatures. All of this has been carried out except the pronouns provision, and students and employees must comply by the end of July, the letter said.
Kansas legislators, with a majority of Republicans in both chambers, passed the budget bill in March, and Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, signed it into law in April. Kelly is usually an LGBTQ+ ally and has vetoed some anti-LGBTQ+ legislation previously. Last year, she let an anti-DEI bill become law without her signature. Inside Higher Ed sought comment from her but received no response.
Speaking to Inside Higher Ed, Ross Marchand, program counsel at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said the law is unconstitutional. “No one knows how to interpret this, and it’s overly broad,” Marchand said. “And both of these issues are fatal for First Amendment purposes.”
This article originally appeared on Advocate: Kansas public universities end LGBTQ+, DEI programs