Emotions run high as Nebraska becomes latest state caught in crosshairs of DEI initiatives
LINCOLN − Nebraska students, community members and public school officials packed a committee hearing room floor on Tuesday night to speak passionately about legislation to cut diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) funding to public universities and colleges.
In an emotion-filled hearing that spanned late into the evening, more than 60 critics and supporters of the bill waited hours to testify before the committee. About a dozen people testified in favor of dismantling the diversity initiatives, while scores of students praised DEI for its role in promoting under-represented communities.
Along with defunding DEI programs, the bill would make it illegal for publicly funded schools to require employees to be trained about privilege and how it impacts people based on ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity.
State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil, Chair of the Education Committee and the bill's sponsor, argued that DEI programs are "a threat to academic freedom," deplete funds during systemwide budget cuts, silence students and faculty whose opinions go against “the DEI movement,” and create racial divides.
"Taxpayer-funded universities shouldn't be used for activism and social change," he said.
More: Republican lawmakers are backing dozens of bills targeting diversity efforts on campus and elsewhere
Supporters of the bill argued that they didn’t want their tax money funding DEI programs to provide preferential treatment based on race.
“Our state schools deserve quality credentialing, not indoctrination in a pricey sheepskin wrapped in DEI agenda,” former Nebraska public school teacher Ken Brueggemann said in his testimony.
Similar legislation has been passed in other red states, including Florida, Oklahoma and Utah, as diversity remains a political lightning rod in the cultural wars surrounding critical race theory.
Along with members of the Lincoln branch of the NAACP and professors, many university students from diverse backgrounds defended DEI programs as one of the reasons they came to Nebraska and were able to stay in school.
Mia Perales, a first-year environmental engineering student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln of Latina descent, said DEI programs gave her a sense of support while she was continuously overlooked by her white, male counterparts in the major and feared what would happen if the Office of DEI closed.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln student Keelie Strating, who uses the pronouns they/them, became emotional while explaining the importance of DEI at the university after growing up in a predominantly white, rural area of the state.
"I learned very quickly that to be Black, to be trans and to be queer was something that means being ostracized by my community," Strating said to the committee as their voice broke. "We are genuinely and truly scared, this is not an exaggeration, and I know I'm not the only one who has been losing sleep and tears over this bill."
More: DEI came to colleges with a bang. Now, these red states are on a mission to snuff it out.
Another student, Jacqueline Gomez, highlighted that cuts to DEI would contribute to Nebraska’s “brain drain,” where many young, educated people are leaving the state.
“It would lead them to want to leave and not come back,” Gomez said. “We are already regressing. A lot of people talked badly about Nebraska as a state, and this would only contribute to that.”
Several university presidents and administrators warned that the bill would harm their ability to recruit and retain students and staff.
“Our job is to support every single student, no matter what their background,” Interim University of Nebraska President Chris Kabourek said in his testimony.
No word yet if the measure, which has 13 co-sponsors, will get enough votes to move forward to the full Legislature.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nebraska legislature considers axing DEI initiatives at state colleges
