Texas Tech response to new state DEI laws concerns some on campus

As the deadline for Texas public universities to eliminate diversity offices under Senate Bill 17 draws closer on Jan. 1, there are growing concerns from some students, faculty and staff at Texas Tech about the university’s efforts to comply with the bill.

Over the past few months, students and staff have spoken to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal about how Tech, once a national leader in inclusive efforts for social and cultural communities, has eliminated the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, the Black Cultural Center and the Office of LGBTQIA+ Education & Engagement with little or no communication to the campus community.

Tech leaders have acknowledged the changes have come to be in compliance with state law, but stress it doesn't take away from the university's commitment to serving people of all backgrounds.

Still, some portions of the campus community most impacted by the changes say they're concerned the changes have taken away a safety net for the sake of not losing out on state funding and support.

"I personally have seen students on campus emboldened by the silence of the university on what's going on," said Blue Berry, an undergraduate student at Tech. "People who hold racist or homophobic or transphobic beliefs have been a lot more outspoken in ways that are not creating a campus community that is welcoming and safe for everyone."

Opening and erasing of the cultural centers

Before the 88th Texas Legislature gaveled in at the start of 2023, Texas Tech opened the Black Cultural Center and the Peters Family Legacy Library within the center in September 2022. At the time, the university told the A-J the center was created to celebrate Black culture and its impact on the institution, and was open to all students and organizations.

It was also created in partnership with the Black Student Association after a racist video shared by a Tech-affiliated organization went viral, along with other events in 2020 that caused the university to create a safe space for students.

The Black Student Association (BSA) did not respond to the A-J's requests for comment for this story.

Related: Texas Tech students, administration work together on plan to combat racism

At the time the cultural center opened, it was also known that two more centers — a Hispanic/Latino Cultural Center and an Intercultural Center — would be built later.

Gilbert Carrasco, former director of the LGBT office, said the signage of the Black Cultural Center was taken down in the spring of 2023. Carrasco also said staff communications referred to it as “The Center,” or its address “2500 Broadway,” but the at-large campus community was not informed of the change.

As for the other centers, Erasto Cortes, the parliamentarian for the Hispanic Student Society, said the organization and the Office of the President were in talks around the same time it started talking to the BSA about its cultural center.

“We were literally in the planning stage,” Cortes said. “We were just trying to find locations, things like that. It was at a stalemate, but of course, DEI was in the background at that time. It was just kind of difficult to gauge if things would get done or not.”

Tech officials confirmed the Hispanic/Latino Cultural Center is no longer in the works and the Intercultural Center would not be built. The only center that remains is the International Cultural Center.

It wasn’t until September 2023 that the university officially renamed the Black Cultural Center to the Campus Engagement Center, which now houses the Office of Campus Access and Engagement — the repurposed version of the DEI and LGBT Offices.

Texas Tech silencing students?

A hotly contested event at many Texas public universities is drag shows, and Texas Tech, through the Resident Hall Association, hosted one every spring semester.

The RHA is partly funded through the university, though it acts independently like any other campus student organization.

However, before S.B. 17 or S.B. 12 — the banning of drag shows bill — even passed the House or Senate, RHA President Madi Pitts said the university made efforts to silence the organization and deter them from the annual drag show fundraiser.

According to the Bill Analysis of S.B. 17, the bill cannot prohibit the "activity of a student organization registered with or recognized by a public institution of higher education."

Pitts said she believed the pressure the organization faced was done on behalf of the Office of the President. She also said the then-executive RHA leadership, which included herself, had closed-door meetings with university leadership in the spring of 2023.

“It was a very strange meeting,” Pitts said. “It was a lot more staff than students in there, so I know that makes students pretty uncomfortable about speaking out.”

Some of the members in those meetings included former DEI Officer Carol Sumner, TTUHSC Chief Experience Officer Jody Randal, former LGBT office director Gilbert Carrasco and Associate Vice President of Auxillary Services, Patrick Albritton, according to Pitts and confirmed by Carrasco.

During these meetings, students alleged the university pressured them to stay silent.

“We were told that we could not do the drag show because people would lose their jobs and that we would be directly responsible for special attacks against the department of diversity,” Pitts said.

Carrasco corroborated what was said in the meeting and told the students in the meetings not to concern themselves about their job security and to stick up for what they believed in.

In the end, RHA complied with the university's wishes. However, Pitts said students had difficulty getting meetings scheduled with officials. She also claimed officials told students to keep things off paper and delete documents due to fear of a records request.

Pitts said the RHA was also asked to get rid of its DEI chair position. Other student organizations, such as the university-funded Student Government Association, still have a director of DEI position.

The lack of communication and transparency

While RHA had meetings on one end of the campus, other conversations were taking place in the former LGBT offices with staff and student assistants.

Kaity Swecker, a former graduate assistant in the office and current student, said there was very little communication when the LGBT and DEI offices were starting to be shut down.

“They were going to have a discussion with all the student workers who worked in the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as a whole — but they ended up not having that meeting,” Swecker said. “We were able to just all kind of piece together what was happening and from what was on the news and rumors that we had heard around campus.”

Swecker (they/them) said they felt fear and anxiety for the communities being affected by the sudden change.

A new office popped up in September from the former offices on campus — the Office of Campus Access and Engagement. Jorge Iber was named interim vice president of campus access and engagement.

“They had made us into this new office, but essentially they were telling us to do things that were replicating the activities of other offices,” Swecker said. “So we felt pretty useless.”

As Texas Tech underwent changes, Berry, Pitts and Swecker said the university has not been transparent about what is happening.

According to documents and statements from sources, there has been minimal communication from university leadership about the recent changes to campus resources, apart from memos from the president on July 13 and July 19.

Documents issued by Texas Tech go over what is and is not allowed under S.B. 17. It can be found on the Office of Campus Access and Engagement website and a login-restricted guidance sheet on the provost's website.

During an SGA-hosted town hall meeting on Nov. 27, students asked questions about recent changes to the university's leadership.

One student asked whether anyone was let go from the former LGBT offices due to S.B. 17. Iber answered no.

When the office was restructured, Iber said the former LGBT office director and associate director were placed in lower positions in the new Campus Access office, but no one was fired from the DEI offices.

According to employment offers obtained by the A-J, the former LGBT director was offered the position of associate director at a pay cut of 22.6%.

However, the former LGBT associate director position was given an assistant director position until Dec. 31, 2023, when she would be let go.

Funding priorities from legislative session

Both Pitts and Berry pointed to the House Bill 1 — the general appropriation bill — and Section 58 of Special Provisions Relating Only To State Agencies Of Higher Education rider that promised public universities $700 million of the surplus, if lawmakers passed S.B. 17 and S.B. 18 during the regular session.

If those bills failed, these funds would have been withheld:

• $263 million for the Instruction & Operations and Infrastructure formulas.

• $18 million for the Texas University Fund, Core Research University, and Comprehensive Research University Funds.

• $184 million for the Support for Military Veterans Exemptions to reimburse the Hazlewood Legacy Program costs.

Carrasco said he believed the university stayed quiet because the nearly $4 billion research-focused Texas University Fund was placed on the ballot in November.

“The four main universities that benefited from this Texas University Fund did not speak up because, I think, they were at risk of losing (the fund) if that were to end up happening,” Carrasco said. “You give us this bill; we'll give you the money.”

Some people within the former DEI offices took the idea of Texas Tech receiving kickbacks for staying silent and coined it into — “From here, it's profitable” — a twisted version of the university’s motto.

"Our university hasn't released any public statement detailing what they have done with the previous diversity offices, what resources we still have and what they are implementing to continue protections," Pitts said. "When students experience hate crimes on campus, there's no public notification that that happens. There's no way to know that campus isn't safe for you anymore."

Related: Texas Tech responds after DEI, LGBT+ offices, resources vanish to comply with SB 17

Texas Tech University issued the following statement to the Avalanche-Journal:

Complying with legislative mandates is a complex process requiring extensive planning and engagement with stakeholders as changes are implemented within the university’s existing framework.

Since the passage of Senate Bill 17 in June 2023, Texas Tech University has maintained that it will obey the letter and the spirit of the law while remaining steadfast in its support of all Red Raiders. In particular, our students can take advantage of the many resources provided through the offices of Student Success, Student Life, Campus Access & Engagement, 500+ student organizations and other student services departments across campus. 

Realignments made as a result of S.B. 17 have been done according to guidance provided by the Texas Tech University System’s Office of General Counsel. These changes have been communicated, beginning in July, to members of the campus community in various ways, including email, in-person conversations, town hall-style meetings and guidance posted on university-owned web pages.  

As it has for 100 years, Texas Tech will always prioritize the safety, well-being and success of all its students, faculty and staff.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech response to new state DEI laws concerns some on campus