Thursday night, Nov. 21, student clubs Movimiento Activista Social (MAS) and UNITY held a public meeting to discuss the possible elimination of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) offices at the University of Idaho and to stand in solidarity with the equity and diversity unit.
This meeting came after the Idaho State Board of Education held a special board meeting with a proposed resolution to ban DEI in higher education earlier in the afternoon.
The resolution discussed at the Idaho State Board of Education’s meeting says, “Institutions shall ensure that no central office, policy, procedure, or initiative is dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion, except as required for athletic compliance, academic program-specific accreditation, academic research, academic instruction, eligibility for federal grants and programs and scholarships.”
In preparation for this resolution, UI held a closed-door meeting with the offices who may potentially be affected by this resolution on Monday, Nov. 18. Offices such as the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Diversity Center, the Black and African American Cultural Center, the LGBTQA Lounge and the Women’s Center were among the group invited to the closed-door meeting where they were told UI was planning to close its DEI offices.
Chief Diversity Officer and the Executive Director of Tribal Relations Yolanda Bisbee and the Vice Provost for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Blaine Eckles were at MAS and UNITY’s meeting to answer questions and concerns raised by the attendees following the State Board’s meeting.
Bisbee noted that threats to DEI in higher education have been happening nationally, citing Texas, Florida and Utah’s doing away with DEI offices and programs and explained that UI’s DEI offices have been worried about legislation making its way to Idaho for years.
“I think one of the things that needs to be further explored is how people are defining diversity, equity and inclusion because there’s real confusion and misunderstanding about what does that really means,” Bisbee said. “One of the things that I’d like to speak to, is that the work that we do for our students has always been made to make all of our students feel included as part of our Vandal community.”
According to Eckles, there are still a lot of unknowns regarding the situation.
“The one thing we want to do is bring clarity when its unclear. It’s really frustrating,” Eckles said. “We have been working on a plan to try to anticipate [legislation banning DEI]. Look at what’s happened across the nation.”
Eckles said he, Bisbee and President Scott Green were at the closed-door meeting on Monday and commended Green for his efforts in being transparent in the process of deciding whether the DEI offices will be closed. Eckles also said he, “…was very pleased with Green when he committed to the staff that we’re going to find a home for all the employees that may be impacted by any decisions we have to implement.”
Eckles said the current confusion at the moment is the outcome of the Idaho State Board of Education’s special board meeting where no conclusion was reached regarding the resolutions targeting DEI in higher education.
“[The State Board] said, and I was very pleased, they said they were going to be engaging the institutions in conversations, so working with the presidents to have a conversation about what they mean by [the Board’s] resolutions,” said Eckles.
Eckles said that he and Bisbee do not know when any official announcement will be released as it’s changing on a regular basis.
“We thought there would have been a more definitive outcome [on the future of UI’s DEI offices] after the State Board meeting today and [not having a definitive outcome] caught us by surprise, frankly,” Eckles said.
Eckles made it clear that cultural student clubs and organizations will be able to remain in place and that students had First Amendment rights to gather.
An Idaho legislative task force focused on DEI will meet on Dec. 2. The Idaho State Board of Education will convene again on Dec. 18.
“What we don’t know is even if the State Board passes whatever resolutions, what the state legislature is going to say,” Eckles said. “So, as citizens, you have the First Amendment right to express your thoughts, to express your opinions, and as we talked with several groups this week already, I would encourage you to exercise your right if you choose to do so and convey how important these programs are to you and how much you benefited from them whether you were a direct participant in the programs or not.”
When asked why the university is preemptively planning the closure of DEI offices when no laws or resolutions have passed, Eckles said they are building a plan in anticipation.
“The university’s been in conversations with State Board members as well as legislative members that have been talking about this. We don’t want to wait for something to get enacted,” Eckles said. “It’s about controlling your future in where you want to go. I’ll be honest, they can pass a law that literally fires all the people in the [equity and diversity unit], and we would not have any way to support them. That could still happen, but if we are proactive and try to address things, then we’re able to put some programs in place that actually still support students.”
Regarding putting new programs in place, Bisbee explained that, “Right now, it’s looking like it’s a student engagement center with a first-gen component to it.” The program would also utilize a cohort system proven to be successful within DEI offices. However, Bisbee said they are in the beginning stages of trying to figure out how they’re going to make that work.
The closure of DEI offices was originally planned for the end of this semester, but is now unknown, according to Bisbee. Bisbee also said the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) and the TRIO programs are safe because they are federally funded, but expressed concerns for their future as CAMP and the TRIO-SSS are in re-write periods right now and the university will not know whether they will be refunded. Bisbee made it clear this information is from what the National Association has been telling them.
When asked what the university has done to fight against anti-DEI legislation and resolutions, Eckles said education, upwards and outwards, was the university’s weapon of choice. Clarity in what exactly legislators and the State Board mean by DEI and demonstrating the success the programs have had on campus.
“The State Board is the boss. When they put an initiative at us, we have to go back to the State Board and ask, ‘Is this something that you want us to do? The legislators are asking us for more information, we’re giving them more information,’ and being as transparent as we can about the programs that we have and what we’re doing,” Bisbee said. “And nothing seems to work.”
Bisbee and Eckles encouraged students to pay attention to what is happening with DEI on the national and state level. Bisbee also emphasized how important it is for students to vote for representatives who will set the policies and legislature they want to see.
“We’re trying to identify the path ahead as clearly as possible so we can communicate that because when there is a lot of unknown, it creates a lot of stress and that is not what we want at all,” Eckles said. “We are a public institution supported by public fees, so we have to understand that that’s the space that we live in. That’s why the president [Green] said we’re going to abide by the law, we’re going by what the regents give us guidance to do.”
After Eckles and Bisbee’s discussion, some students shared personal statements and anecdotes in support of DEI offices. A walk of solidarity followed the meeting.
Georgia Swanson can be reached at [email protected].