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SALT LAKE CITY — The crafting of changes Utah's public universities will have to make to their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to comply with HB261 is underway.
The Utah Board of Higher Education discussed the process Thursday, formally tapping the office of Geoffrey Landward, commissioner of the Utah System of Higher Education, to oversee the process. Landward is already looking into the matter and he updated the board members on the process at their meeting Thursday.
"There is quite a bit in the law, in terms of the long list of things that we can't do and the long list of things that we need to be doing," he told them. He said he's been working with the legal teams from the eight public colleges and universities impacted by HB261 in creating draft guidelines.
The officials didn't delve into possible specifics of changes, but Landward emphasized the importance of complying with the letter and spirit of HB261 so university officials "won't find ourselves in the crosshairs" of lawmakers in the 2025 session.
"What we don't want is for there to be some appetite to reengage in legislation that more strictly prohibits some of these things because they're unhappy with our efforts to comply with the law," Landward said.
That said, lawmakers understand it will be a complicated shift for the universities that will take time. University officials have emphasized that they will be open and welcome to all students regardless of any change brought on HB261, but they have been largely quiet about specific potential impacts.
Utah lawmakers "understand that it won't be a light switch, that it will still continue to take some time," Landward said. The changes are to be implemented by July 1 while a report outlining HB261 compliance efforts comes due in July 2025.
HB261 was one of the most contentious issues during the 2024 legislation session, which ended March 1. The Democratic minority in the House and Senate vociferously opposed the measure, which nevertheless mustered support from all GOP lawmakers who cast ballots.
The new law stems from Republican lawmakers' concerns that diversity initiatives are discriminatory since they typically focus on racial and ethnic minorities and other traditionally marginalized groups, not white people. Programming aimed at helping students thrive in college and graduate, they argue, should be available to all students.
Critics, though, say diversity programming helps students who have historically had a harder time navigating the college setting and that HB261 represents a step back in protecting the civil rights of students and others of color.
Among other things, HB261 requires universities to broaden the focus of diversity initiatives to all students who could benefit from them regardless of race, ethnicity and other "personal identity characteristics." It also prohibits universities from asking for "diversity statements" of job applicants or would-be students.
Notably, HB261's provisions don't extend into the classroom, Landward told board members and representatives on hand from Utah's universities.
"Importantly, we were able to exempt from all of this our academic side, our curriculum and teaching and classrooms. So this has nothing to do with what you teach or how you teach it, but this is more focused on the administrative side," he said. Researchers investigating things like diversity, equity and critical race theory will be able to continue their efforts.
Moreover, while "pockets of things" occurring in Utah partially spurred lawmakers to pursue HB261, he said much of their concern came from outside of Utah, "from national conversations, national perceptions."
Some of the university representatives at Thursday's meeting voiced concerns about possible ripple effects of HB261 — that it could spur firing of employees, that some students may not find universities as welcoming, that "academic freedom" could be threatened. Some also expressed concern that changes wrought by HB261 would adversely impact student groups that have historically benefited from diversity initiatives.
Landward said Utah lawmakers are willing to revisit HB261 if need be. "There's that commitment from them. They've said they're absolutely willing to work with us on it," he said. What's more, while HB261 requires university officials to "pivot," he said it doesn't take money away from higher ed institutions.
