Hundreds of jobs lost to DEI ban, university officials tell Texas Senate hearing

AUSTIN – The dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion programs at Texas universities has led to the firing of several hundred staff members and millions of dollars in program cuts, leaders of the state’s public universities told state senators Tuesday.

Sen. Brandon Creighton, the Republican from Conroe who led efforts to curtail DEI programs in the 2023 legislative session, called university system chancellors to the Capitol for a hearing to gauge compliance with the law.

The well-attended hearing also focused on recent pro-Palestine protests, including demonstrations at the University of Texas at Austin and UT-Dallas that resulted in more than 140 arrests.

Creighton blamed activists for attempting to hijack discourse on college campuses.

“It’s no surprise that a small group of students and faculty felt they could take over campuses to spread this radical ideology and then feel comfortable occupying campuses to propagate the view,” Creighton said.

The DEI ban, passed by the Legislature in 2023, prohibits programs providing resources for specific races, ethnicities or gender identities and has led to the reclassification or shuttering of campus multicultural and LGBTQ centers.

Among the UT System’s 14 campuses, 311 full- and part-time positions were eliminated, 21 DEI offices were closed and 681 contracts were canceled, Chancellor James Milliken told the Senate Subcommittee on Higher Education. The cuts saved $25 million, he said.

“Ensuring compliance has been a top UT System priority over the last year,” Milliken said.

Examining the extent of that compliance was the main portion of the day’s testimony as chancellors from the state’s public university system each gave accounts of implementing the DEI ban.

Within the Texas A&M System, the DEI ban affected 114 positions, though many were student workers or academics who spent only a fraction of their time on DEI efforts, Chancellor John Sharp testified. At the College Station campus, only eight employees lost their jobs, he said.

Republicans opposed DEI efforts as divisive, but Amanda McLaughlin, a transgender woman, said the programs build inclusive communities.

“Moving DEI offices takes away a safe space and often a lifeline for students and sends a message that they don’t belong,” McLaughlin testified. “They no longer have a place where they are accepted and find support.”

Tuesday’s hearing began with testimony about recent protests from Levi Fox, a UT-Austin student who works with several Jewish organizations on campus. Fox said he heard threats from protesters, including a UT faculty member who Fox said told a group of Jewish students observing a pro-Palestine protest, “They’ll come after you and put you in the ovens next.”

“When people feel so brazen to call for the death of Jews and not just say it but to say it with pride, that’s terrifying,” Fox said.

Fox did not name the professor but said he would share the name with members of the subcommittee.

Courtney Toretto with the Anti-Defamation League testified that many of the chants heard at the protests were antisemitic and called for the destruction of Israel.

Responding to questions from the subcommittee, A&M’s chancellor said he believed protests like those at UT-Austin were antisemitic. UT’s chancellor said there might have been antisemitic elements, but he did not believe every participant was an antisemite.

David Albert, a UT government professor who is Jewish, said that in many cases, the term antisemitism is being misapplied to demonize peaceful protesters who disagreed with the way Israel is prosecuting the war in Gaza.

“Antisemitism is simply hatred of Jews, not criticism of Israel,” Albert testified. “Criticism of the actions of the state of Israel is not antisemitic. Criticism of the Netanyahu government is not antisemitic. Criticism of the Israeli occupation or the Gaza operation are not antisemitic.”