UW prepares to protect ‘essential’ services in ODEI

CHEYENNE — In response to a budget footnote that defunds the University of Wyoming’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI), the university’s Board of Trustees decided Thursday to create a list of “essential” services offered through the program.

Gov. Mark Gordon still has until midnight Saturday to line-item veto the budget for the 2025-26 biennium. This means he could choose to remove the footnote and restore funding to the university’s ODEI.

Since the Legislature is no longer in session, lawmakers are without the opportunity to override any of the governor’s vetoes.

However, UW President Edward Seidel said it was important for the Board of Trustees to piece together a policy framework to protect these essential services going forward.

“Regardless of the outcome of the legislation … we’re going to continue to carry out an inventory of these activities,” Seidel said. “We’re going to think very hard about how they comport with what the (Wyoming) Constitution says, what are best practices, what is needed here by our community. And our commitment to you is to continue to do the things that we believe are essential for you.”

During Thursday’s meeting, Board of Trustees Chairman John McKinley said the best way to start is to create a list of all essential functions offered through ODEI.

This list would include a subcategory of functions required under state and federal law, such as the Title IX and Title VI anti-discrimination laws. “I would suggest, as we engage in this process, that we try to not define diversity. It means something different to everybody in this room,” McKinley said. “But we can work on identifying certain functions, certain obligations, certain programs that are essential for the success of students and the university.”

Overall, the university’s Board of Trustees seemed determined to salvage services that are deemed critical to UW’s diverse student, staff and faculty population. McKinley said the board will slate a spot during its next meeting in May to move forward on its policy framework.

DEI debate in Legislature

UW was the center of debate this past session as lawmakers negotiated a final budget for the 2025-26 biennium.

Funding for the UW ODEI was the main bargaining chip in a second round of negotiations, after lawmakers managed to save UW’s gender studies program and block grant funding model.

Rep. Clark Stith, R-Rock Springs, previously told the WTE the university’s ODEI was an “ugly compromise” in order to reach agreement on a finalized budget.

Diversity, equity and inclusion programs were under attack from the beginning of the session, when Sen. Bo Biteman, R-Ranchester, successfully introduced a bill that would have banned DEI programs in all governmental entities in the Cowboy State.

Biteman’s bill, SF 130, “The equality state not equity state act,” passed through the Senate. However, its journey came to an abrupt end when it was not considered for introduction in the House of Representatives.

Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, who is also a faculty member at UW, told the WTE that the Legislature’s attempt to cut DEI programs was a reflection of national trends, where there is a lot of misinformation around what those programs actually do.

Members of the Legislature who are against DEI programs have argued they encourage preferential treatment, putting one group over another based on demographics. Rothfuss said this is a “wildly inaccurate statement.”

“That’s where the misunderstanding really comes from. The (ODEI) is intended to do quite the opposite, to fight racism, and fight against forces of hatred,” Rothfuss said. “It’s regrettable that that national narrative has come to Wyoming.”

Despite the budget footnote, the university has other options to keep these programs around. Rep. Trey Sherwood, D-Laramie, clarified that the footnote did not signal an absolute end to UW’S ODEI and its related programs. Sherwood, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee and has closely followed the budget-making process, said “this footnote only refers to state aid.”

“It’s been falsely reported in local conversations and in the newspaper that it also refers to endowment or match funds or private funds,” Sherwood said during the public comment portion of the meeting. “That is not the case.”

Sherwood also pointed out that this footnote in the budget was rejected both in the House and during the first round of budget negotiations.

“This was not a unanimous agreement from the legislative body,” Sherwood said.

The Laramie representative said she recognized how these “critical” services offered by the ODEI aided the university’s students in their academic success. Sherwood said she hoped the university would look at “non-state aid” options to keep this office open and its staff employed.

“This isn’t Alabama. It’s not Florida. We are the Equality State,” Sherwood said. “Collectively, I believe our entities, both the legislative body and the leadership at the university, can work together to respect the rights and freedoms of our students while investing in educational offerings that prepare our Wyomingites for good-paying jobs. And I look forward to working with you to do that.”

‘Fight for us’

University students, staff and alumni begged board members to fight for them and keep the university’s ODEI alive. During the public comment portion of Thursday’s meeting, several students shared stories of how ODEI services and affiliated programs, such as the Office of Multicultural Affairs, made their success at the university possible.

UW senior Jaime Gagnon said they understood trustees had no input in the budget footnote to defund the ODEI, but begged them to find a way to push back.

“I understand that you have no control over the budget, (but) you do have control over what you do with that information,” Gagnon said. “I know for a fact that I would not have felt welcome or wanted, or even probably succeeded at this university, if I did not have that support.”

Stephen Dillon, director of the School of Culture, Gender, and Social Justice, told board members that his previous institution saw a boost in transfer applications from Florida college students. He said these students “described themselves as exiles, unable to research, read, think or simply exist how they wanted.”

Many of these students left the New College of Florida, he said, an institution that reached a historically low retention rate, according to reporting by National Public Radio. The NPR report also said 27% of students dropped out in 2022, double the amount of dropouts from the college in the previous two years.

Dillon also mentioned the NAACP’s recent call on parents and students to turn down athletic opportunities at public Florida colleges over the state’s anti-DEI policies.

“If 80% of the country supported Black Lives Matter, and queer and trans rights, one can only imagine how effective this effort will be,” Dillon said.

This story was published on March 22, 2024.