Idaho education board will consider eliminating diversity offices from UI and other state colleges

The Idaho State Board of Education will consider a resolution this week to eliminate diversity and equity offices from universities.

The board’s draft resolution, which will be taken up in a special meeting Thursday, states “institutions shall ensure that no central office, policy, procedure, or initiative is dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion.” If passed, it’s possible the resolution could scrap diversity offices from Boise State University, University of Idaho, Idaho State University and Lewis-Clark State College, according to the agenda for Nov. 21.

Colleges like University of Idaho have other centers that collaborate and function under their Diversity and Equity office, including the Women’s Center, which educates students on abusive relationships, safe sex, pregnancy, communication and more. The Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Black and African American Cultural Center and the College Assistant Migrant Program – which provides a supplemental scholarship, academic help, mentorship and other support services – is also under the Diversity and Equity office.

It’s unclear how the programs will move forward if the board approves the resolution.

State board spokesperson Mike Keckler declined to comment on the draft resolution Wednesday, but said the board will only be reviewing the resolution at Thursday’s meeting to decide if they want to take action. Asked if the University of Idaho would shut down its diversity and equity office, spokesperson Jodi Walker also declined to comment until after the board’s meeting on Thursday.

Diversity and inclusion efforts within federal grants, academic research, athletics and scholarships will be exempt from elimination, the resolution states.

Idaho’s accreditors do not require these colleges to maintain diversity offices, the proposal says, and the board wants to “ensure” that “all students succeed regardless of personal identity characteristics” and that success programs are “dedicated to all students.”

The resolution also says no college employee should be required to state their gender pronouns in any form of communication.

The resolution will be considered a month after the first meeting of a diversity, equity and inclusion task force formed in the Idaho Legislature following a yearslong national debate about taxpayer-funded diversity and inclusion programs. This year, Idaho Gov. Brad Little also signed a bill banning higher education institutions from including diversity statements in their hiring processes.

The task force, made up of eight state lawmakers, met last month for the first time to discuss diversity, equity and inclusion practices, according to Idaho Education News.

Rep. Barbara Ehardt, a Republican from Idaho Falls, told the task force she was concerned campus diversity programs could be used as a “reverse weapon” to discriminate against other students, the outlet reported.

“This is very encouraging to hear … I brought this to light with President Trump,” Ehardt told The Spokesman-Review on Wednesday. “What has been happening was the very essence of dividing groups of people by gender and class.”

Ehardt said she’s been fighting diversity, equity and inclusion programs since 2019. She previously taught at the University of California, Santa Barbara and coached women’s sports in schools throughout the West.

“Most everyone has heard my comments since I have continually fought appropriations for this,” she added. “I’m pleased. I commend the board.”

But former University of Idaho graduate Ismael Mendoza, who used the diversity office when going to school, said he had no community until he found the multicultural program there.

“I just could not imagine myself being the person I am today,” Mendoza said. “It wasn’t until I was in these spaces until I learned to flourish and be myself.”

Those offices had to have some tough and serious conversations with Mendoza about his life and future, he said, because he came from a small, rural town in Idaho where he felt he lacked a lot of diverse experiences. He wants his nieces and nephews who are going into higher education to have the same resources he did, he said.

“My parents weren’t able to teach us these things because they didn’t have those resources,” he said. “To not have these would break my heart.”

Rep. Chris Mathias, who sits on the Education Committee, told The Spokesman-Review that if the board wants to eliminate DEI offices in schools, the resolution must first define what it is. And if that happens, the attempt is “shortsighted,” he said.

“The distribution of rights in our country is not a zero-sum game. It is not as easy to navigate a post-secondary campus if you have black or brown skin … To suggest support offices are bad, exclusionary and racist is really ill-informed,” said Mathias, a Democrat from Boise. “It undermines the unity and success of the country.”

When Mathias attended Boise State University, he was on the advisory board for the women’s center. Most would think it’s odd as a man, he said, but it’s not up to women only to support women.

“Improving women’s lives isn’t just a woman’s job – it’s all of our jobs,” he said.

“The same is true for any center improving learning outcomes for Hispanic students isn’t just a job for Hispanic people. Anyone can empower them.”

The board’s meeting is set for noon Thursday.