The University of Wyoming has announced that it is closing its Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, making it one of the latest schools to rollback its commitment to the left-wing ideology.
UW president Ed Seidel made the announcement on Friday, noting that school leaders “received a strong message from the state’s elected officials to change our approach to DEI issues.”
In March, Wyoming lawmakers and Republican governor Mark Gordon approved the state’s legislative budget, which removed $1.73 million in funding from the public university. A budget footnote added that no state dollars were to be spent on the DEI office as of July 1.
In addition to closing its diversity office, UW will no longer require job candidates to submit DEI statements, nor will the university assess employees’ commitment to DEI in their annual performance evaluations. The changes were recommended by a DEI workgroup.
“While very few of our programs and activities can be construed as advocating or promoting preferential treatment, the working group did find some areas warranting further consideration,” Seidel said.
University leaders are weighing other recommendations regarding the removal of DEI from campus, but Seidel noted that some practices or programs may be misconstrued as promoting preferential treatment among certain groups of students. Seidel said that university leaders “have heard from our community that many of the services that might have incorrectly been categorized under DEI are important for the success of our students, faculty and staff.”
The initial steps to roll back DEI, he said, “are a good-faith effort on the part of the university to respond to legislative action while maintaining essential services.”
The DEI rollback will not affect programs or activities involving things such as athletic and academic accreditation compliance; nondiscrimination training; and program access for military veterans, Pell Grant recipients, non-traditional students, low-income students, or people with disabilities, according to Seidel’s announcement.
A university spokesperson told National Review that the office’s two full-time positions will be eliminated, but no layoffs are expected. “There are other positions at the university for these individuals,” the spokesperson said.
The university’s DEI office did not respond to a request for comment from National Review.
The decision came just days before the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill slashed its DEI funding and diverted the money toward public safety and policing instead. UNC’s Board of Trustees approved the change on Monday. The school’s 24-member Board of Governors is expected to vote next week on changing its diversity policy.
Earlier this month, MIT announced that it will no longer require diversity statements in its faculty-hiring process.
In March, the University of Florida closed its diversity department, fired all of its DEI staff, and canceled DEI contracts with outside vendors to comply with the Florida Board of Governor’s regulation that prohibits funding of such programs. In response to the policy, the university shut down the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer and eliminated DEI positions and administrative appointments.