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   From: eat-shit-dei-losers@nytimes.com   
      
   The University of Kentucky will disband its office promoting diversity and   
   inclusion efforts in response to questions from policymakers that its focus on   
   identity has stifled political discussions, its president said Tuesday.   
      
   The action on the Lexington, Kentucky, campus comes after state lawmakers   
   debated whether to limit diversity, equity and inclusion practices at public   
   universities. Republican supermajorities in the Kentucky House and Senate were   
   unable to resolve    
   differences on the issue before ending this year’s session in April, but the   
   matter has been expected to resurface when lawmakers reconvene early next year.   
      
   In the school’s preemptive action, units housed in the shuttered Office for   
   Institutional Diversity will be shifted elsewhere on campus, including into a   
   newly created Office for Community Relations, UK President Eli Capilouto said   
   in a campuswide    
   email. The restructuring won’t result in job losses, he said.   
      
   Capilouto stressed that the school’s core values remain intact — to   
   protect academic freedom and promote a “sense of belonging” for everyone   
   on campus, regardless of background or perspective.   
      
   “But we’ve also listened to policymakers and heard many of their questions   
   about whether we appear partisan or political on the issues of our day and, as   
   a result, narrowly interpret things solely through the lens of identity,”   
   the campus president    
   said. “In so doing, the concern is that we either intentionally or   
   unintentionally limit discourse. I hear many of those concerns reflected in   
   discussions with some of our students, faculty and staff across our campus.”   
      
   Universities in other states have been grappling with similar issues, he noted.   
      
   University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Rodney Bennett on Tuesday announced   
   plans to dissolve the school’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Bennett   
   was hired last year and is the first Black person to lead Nebraska’s   
   flagship public university    
   campus.   
      
   “I fully grasp the weight of this decision and its implications, but a   
   centralized approach to this work is no longer right for our institution,”   
   Bennett said in a public letter.   
      
   Bennett said he’s splitting the task of “supporting and building a sense   
   of community and belonging” between several other offices.   
      
   “It is incumbent on each of us to foster a welcoming environment for all   
   members of our community,” he said.   
      
   Bennett’s announcement would seem to contradict the University of Nebraska   
   system’s stance only months ago during testimony on a legislative bill that   
   would have banned diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at Nebraska state   
   colleges and    
   universities. The system’s interim chancellor at the time, Chris Kabourek,   
   testified against the bill.   
      
   “We are concerned about how this bill would impact our ability to compete   
   for students, for faculty and staff,” Kabourek told lawmakers. “I think we   
   all value diversity and the benefits of being welcoming. Certainly, that’s   
   the kind of    
   environment we strive and want to create on our campuses.”   
      
   The Nebraska bill failed to advance after dozens of critics testified against   
   the proposals.   
      
   The quest to limit DEI initiatives gained momentum this year in a number of   
   statehouses in red states. For instance, Iowa’s Republican-led Legislature   
   approved a budget bill that would ban all DEI offices and initiatives in   
   higher education that aren’   
   t necessary to comply with accreditation or federal law.   
      
   Republican lawmakers in Missouri have proposed numerous bills targeting   
   “diversity, equity and inclusion” initiatives in higher education and   
   state government. Though the legislation hasn’t passed, the efforts have put   
   pressure on institutions to    
   make changes. The University of Missouri recently announced that it is   
   dissolving its “Inclusion, Diversity and Equity” division and dispersing   
   the staff among other departments.   
      
   In Kentucky, GOP lawmakers at the forefront of DEI debates said Tuesday that   
   they welcomed the action taken by UK and urged other public universities to   
   take similar steps.   
      
      
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