Utah - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion - Research and Resources - LibGuides at Women in Engineering ProActive Network

Senate

Senate Bill 283 (The bill failed to pass)
In February 2023, State Sen. John Johnson, a Republican, introduced a bill that would prohibit the funding or promotion of any diversity, equity, or inclusion office in higher education. The bill failed to pass.

House

House Bill 261 (Signed into law)
In January 2024, State Rep. Katy Hall, a Republican, introduced a bill that would prohibit public colleges from making admission or employment decisions based on a person's "certain characteristics" or requiring potential employees to submit statements related to their position or work in promoting differential treatment based on a person's race, sex, color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, or gender identity. It also would prohibit the colleges from requiring a student or employee to participate in training, or developing offices that promote differential treatment based on a person's race, sex, color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, or gender identity. The House and Senate passed the bill in January, and Gov. Spencer J. Cox signed it into law. The bill will take effect on July 1, 2024.
House Bill 111 (he amended version failed to pass before the end of the legislative session)
In January 2024, State Rep. Tim Jimenez, a Republican, introduced a bill that would prohibit public and private employers from requiring training that compels employees to believe or adhere to "certain concepts" related to race, color, sex, or national origin. The proposed bill passed in the House in February. The Senate then voted to strike a clause and sent the bill back to the House, where the amended version failed to pass before the end of the legislative session. If enacted, the bill would have taken effect on July 1, 2024.
House Bill 451 (The bill failed to pass)
In February 2023, State Rep. Katy Hall, a Republican, introduced a bill that would prohibit public colleges from requiring diversity statements from students or employees for hiring, promotion, or admissions purposes. The bill failed to pass.

Colleges Affected by DEI Legislation

Weber State University

Details: Weber State University eliminated all eight “identity-based centers"; eliminated its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Division; realigned all staff positions under its Division of Student Access and Success, and “reimagined” its position descriptions to “remove any prohibited discriminatory practices"; modified titles of student-government positions and eliminated “affinity-based senator positions"; eliminated diversity statements; and eliminated any mandatory training events that “promote discriminatory practices.” The university retained its center for military-affiliated students and families and its center for students with disabilities.

Salt Lake Community College

Details: Salt Lake Community College eliminated its Office for Institutional Equity, Inclusion, and Transformation and its Office of Multicultural Affairs, and reassigned most staff members to a new Office of Student Engagement, Experience, and Achievement. The college retained its Dream Center for undocumented students.

University of Utah

Details: The University of Utah eliminated the use of “diversity questions or statements” in its hiring processes; closed its Division of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; closed its Black Cultural Center, Women’s Resource Center, LGBT Resource Center, and Center for Equity and Student Belonging; shifted some staffing and resources to a new Community and Cultural Engagement Center; and opened up identity-based clubs and programs to all groups. The university retained its Dream Center for undocumented students and its American Indian Resource Center, which it renamed the Center for Native Excellence and Tribal Engagement.

Weber State University

University of Utah

Weber State University

In the Media

Utah is the latest state to ban DEI efforts on campus and in government
Utah's governor signed a bill into law Tuesday that makes the state the latest to prohibit diversity training, hiring and inclusion programs at universities and in state government.
Beyond DEI: Unpacking Utah’s debate over campus diversity initiatives
A new state law has led public universities and students to grapple with what a post-DEI campus should look like
What the latest version of Utah’s DEI bill will — and won’t — prohibit
HB261 aims to overhaul diversity, equity and inclusion programs at public institutions. It’s scheduled for a final vote on Thursday

What it means

Under House Bill 451 and Senate Bill 283, public institutions in Utah would have been prohibited from funding or promoting DEI offices and requiring DEI statements from students, faculty, and staff for hiring or admissions practices.

Both bills were introduced in February, 2023 by Republican legislators, Rep. Katy Hall and Sen. John Johnson, respectively. While SB 283 was pulled before the end of the legislative session, HB 451 failed to pass by the session's end.

On Jan. 16, 2024, House Bill 261 was introduced by Republican Rep. Katy Hall. Under the bill, public colleges in Utah will be prohibited from engaging in "discriminatory practices" including the assertion "that socio-political structures are inherently a series of power relationships and struggles among racial groups," and "that an individual, by virtue of the individual's personal identity characteristics, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other individuals with the same personal identity characteristics."

Just three days after it was introduced, HB 261 was passed in the House and had its first reading in the Senate.

On Jan. 31, 2024 Gov. Spencer J. Cox signed HB261 into law effective July 1, 2024, eliminating training requirements that "promotes differential treatment," prohibiting race into account in hiring practices, and prohibiting higher education, state board, and government employees from establishing or maintaining a DEI office.

The bill requires higher education institutions to conduct campus climate surveys through a third party and send them to the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion - Research and Resources: Utah

Senate

House

Colleges Affected by DEI Legislation

Weber State University

Salt Lake Community College

Snow College

Southern Utah University

University of Utah

Utah State University

Utah Tech University

Utah Valley University

Weber State University

Salt Lake Community College

Snow College

Southern Utah University

University of Utah

Utah State University

Utah Tech University

Utah Valley University

Weber State University

In the Media

What it means