A bill in the Kansas House of Representatives that would restrict the topics that could be included in many required university courses has been removed from the hearing schedule. It’s unclear if it will reappear this session. But a provision in the legislature’s budget could still crack down on diversity, equity and inclusion in curriculum.
Budget proviso would withhold funding if schools continue to include DEI in required classes
One current proviso — clauses establishing a condition for funding, that expire at the end of the fiscal year, which runs July 1 to June 30, unless renewed in the next legislative session — from the Committee on Higher Education has a similar goal to House Bill 2428, both requiring public universities to remove DEI-related content from required courses.
The proviso builds upon a previous one that’s still in effect, which forbade DEI infrastructure within public institutions. Since July, anybody paid by WSU, as a state-owned institution, can’t include pronouns in their email signatures. Along with this, pages were removed from the WSU website, and the names of some university units have been changed — like the Women of Wichita State, now WSU Sparks Society and the Ambassadors for Diversity and Inclusion, now the Student Belonging Coalition.
“(WSU) interpreted last year’s proviso to mean, ‘Do all these things, but leave curriculum alone because curriculum is protected under the statute (law),’” said Zach Gearhart, Wichita State’s chief of staff and director of government relations. “Now what they’re saying is ‘You need to interpret it to mean no (DEI) mandates in the curriculum.’”
The proviso would hold $2 million from each university — $12 million in total — until each university proves to the state finance council, which Governor Laura Kelly chairs, that it does not mandate “DEI-CRT” related classes within curricula.
CRT refers to Critical Race Theory, an academic theory that analyzes systemic racism in institutions. CRT, which dates back to the 1970s, has come into the political spotlight in recent years with efforts to ban it from curricula across the country.
House Bill 2428
House Bill 2428, which has been pulled from the hearing schedule, would mandate that the Kansas Board of Regents — which oversees higher education in the state — restrict topics such as race, gender and bias from the curriculum of most required courses for bachelor’s degrees. It would allow KBOR to sign an exemption for majors that specifically focus on these topics, like Wichita State’s Women’s, Ethnicity and Intersectional Studies field major.
The legislation would also bar departments from requiring training about diversity, equity and inclusion for faculty, and mandate courses teaching about “American institutions,” as well as information about free speech to be shared at freshman orientations.
Implementing the legislation could cost an estimated combined $7 million for the universities. According to the bill’s fiscal note, “Wichita State University (WSU) states there could be additional costs to implement the bill’s provisions; however, WSU is unable to estimate a fiscal effect at this time.”
Proponents of the bill said it would promote academic freedom by not forcing students to learn about DEI to receive a degree, as well as freeing faculty from any pressure by universities or departments to receive training on DEI (excluding legally required training such as Title IX), research topics such as race or gender, or include such topics in the curriculum.
Opponents argued it would limit academic freedom by placing state-mandated restrictions on academic programs and would be detrimental to students’ education because they would not be compelled to learn and think about topics like inequality and bias.
“If you tell me that there’s certain things I can’t say to my students, certain words I can’t put on my syllabus, then I don’t have academic freedom, and neither does anybody else,” said Aaron Rife, the department chair for Wichita State’s School of Education.
The School of Education requires two courses on diversity for all elementary, middle and secondary education majors, as well as K-12 physical education, Spanish and French majors. Other programs, including social work, also require similar courses.
Many critics of HB 2428 pushed back against the idea that faculty push ideology surrounding race and gender.
“The idea that professors are indoctrinating students is really false,” said Rannfrid Lasine Thelle, a professor of religion at WSU. “I mean, faculty want students to learn to think for themselves, and present information.
“We don’t promote something other than, you know, being able to look at a bunch of material, assess it, take it in and think critically about it.”
HB 2428 still has the potential to return to the House floor, in this session or next year’s.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct information about the academic field of Rannfrid Lasine Thelle, a professor of religion at Wichita State.
