During the 2024 Wyoming Legislative budget session, lawmakers adopted Footnote 12 to section 0.67 HB0001 House Enrolled Act 50, prohibiting funds from this appropriation to be expended on the office of diversity, equity, and inclusion at the University of Wyoming and any diversity, equity, or inclusion programs, activities, or functions.
On March 22, 2024, Gov. Gordon line-item vetoed the “programs, activities, or functions” portion of the footnote, stating the following:
Diversity, equity and inclusion have emerged as critical topics being discussed during this legislative session, highlighting their importance. I recognize the will of the Legislature on this topic and do not seek to undermine it. Nevertheless, I also believe that without this targeted veto, the legislature will have inadvertently put millions of dollars of federal grants that regularly flow to the University at risk. These grants are vital to research and other core purposes of the University, but with the condition that the recipients extend opportunities to participate in to underrepresented and underserved populations, including veterans, people with disabilities, Native Americans, and others. These grant-required inclusion efforts are much broader than LBGTQ+ or others that our Legislature may believe are the only populations for which inclusion efforts are intended. Clearly Wyoming need not pursue any “woke” agenda and I have encouraged the University to drop such nonsense.
Following the implementation of this legislation, President Seidel created a working group with members from faculty senate, staff senate, ASUW, deans, and administrators to provide suggestions on which programs, activities, and functions should be continued, modified, or discontinued and how essential student success and institutional excellence programs, activities, and functions could be organized and funded within the University to make them most effective. In its Final Report to the President, the working group provided a recommended definition of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The University Board of Trustees adopted the definition on May 10, 2024, and voted to close the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, effective July 1, 2024, consistent with the legislation.
Prohibited Efforts are defined as advocating, promoting, or funding a program, activity, or function that:
The statement carves out protections for classroom instruction, research, accreditation, state and federally required equal opportunity policies and non-discrimination training, requirements for access programs (military veterans, Pell Grant recipients, first-generation college students, nontraditional and transfer students, low-income students, individuals with disabilities), private scholarships, student-led organizations, constitutionally protected speech, and de minimus administrative activities.
In the Fall of 2024 university leaders will be reaching out to the universitiy community to determine which processes and policies may be affected and to reenforce the University’s commitment to faculty, staff, and student access, engagement, and wellbeing.
