A Republican governor signed a bill Tuesday to ban diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) departments at public universities and government-funded employers in the state.
The University of Utah and other public colleges and universities in Utah are feeling the effects of declining confidence in institutions of higher education nationwide.
Eboo Patel believes in “the holiness of diversity.” As a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University, where he earned a doctorate in the sociology of religion, Patel was searching for faith, he said. It was the Islam creation story, in which God forms Adam from a lump of clay and His own breath.
The bill, which now awaits Governor Spencer Cox's likely approval, mirrors similar actions in Florida, Texas, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Oklahoma, showcasing a national trend toward reevaluating diversity initiatives in higher education.