FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky lawmakers called presidents from the state's major universities to Frankfort on Tuesday to discuss changes to their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
In August, University of Kentucky (UK) President Eli Capilouto sent shockwaves across the state when he announced the school would be dismantling its Office for Institutional Diversity.
Now, he's doubling down on the reasons for the move.
"The concern I hear is, 'Do we represent everyone in what we say and what we do?'" Capilouto told state legislators at an Interim Joint Education Committee meeting. "We still have maintained and have records in terms of our diversity, so I hope that that will continue -- albeit satisfied in different ways."
The sentiment comes as an about-face to Capilouto's stance in February, when he publicly voiced opposition to Republican-led bills targeting DEI programs at postsecondary institutions in Kentucky.
Capilouto confirmed the university has eliminated DEI training for staff, as well as mandatory diversity statements for both hiring and student applications. He also told legislators the university is 'recommitting' to impartiality by taking a step back from making statements that appear political or partisan.
"If I'm perceived as taking sides, that sends a signal that we are not open to more than one perspective or idea around a particular matter," he said Tuesday.
University of Louisville (UofL) President Kim Schatzel also testified, talking about the school's rebranded Office of Institutional Equity. She says she led these changes in November 2023, months before Kentucky lawmakers filed bills to curb DEI initiatives in the 2024 legislative session.
"One of the first steps that we did when I came to campus was to change the name of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to the Office of Institutional Equity," Schatzel said. "Equity means no preference, no bias, no discrimination -- institutional equity where we feel all is all. No students are left behind."
Schatzel told the committee UofL does not currently mandate DEI training for employees or DEI classes for students.
Sadiqa Reynolds, the current CEO of Perception Institute and former Louisville Urban League President, tells WHAS11 she's concerned about the universities 'watering down' of initiatives she believes weren't being implemented well to begin with.
"We'll see what happens. I don't know if this is a 'check the box.' I don't know if this means war. I don't know what it means -- but whatever it is, we need to be prepared," she said, noting the impacts she fears the anti-DEI movement could have on student recruitment and retention.
Reynolds continued, "I'm a graduate of both the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky, and this is personal."
UofL Pan-African studies professor Brandon McCormack also attended the meeting, telling WHAS 11, "When I hear the presidents saying, 'We have dismantled our diversity programs and made sure that everyone is represented,' it concedes this idea that somehow these diversity programs were targeting -- for exclusion -- other students."
State Sen. Stephen West, a Republican and chairman of the Interim Joint Education Committee, asked Capilouto to comment on the validity of 'rumors' that UK will keep the same mission for its DEI initiatives and simply change the name of a corresponding office.
Capilouto didn't answer the question directly, instead telling West, "the mission of the University of Kentucky is to advance Kentucky in everything we do."
Capilouto continued, "We desire a healthier, wealthier, wiser Kentucky. That is the mission that we want every unit at the University of Kentucky to operate under. We want that to be our North Star."
WHAS11 talked to Sen. West after the hearing, asking for his thoughts on Capilouto's response.
"On that particular question and that particular answer, I do believe he was somewhat vague -- however I will say that he probably needed to be a little bit vague because ultimately the new office will need to do some of the things that the old office did, and not do others."
West continued, "I think that was his way of stating that, that some things will have to go and some of the mission in the role of the DEI office will have to stay the same."
When asked whether bills targeting DEI programs will remain a focus in the 2025 legislative session, West told WHAS11, "I believe so, Yes."
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