Houston Chronicle by Jeremy Wallace 2/8/2023
Public universities and agencies with diversity, equity and inclusion programs are being manipulated to discriminate, governor claims.Gov. Greg Abbott has fired a political warning shot at public universities and state agencies in Texas, pushing them to stop using diversity hiring programs and arguing such efforts are a form of discrimination.
As conservative activists push the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn affirmative action programs at colleges, Abbott’s chief of staff sent a letter Monday to Texas public universities and state agencies warning that the concept of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, or DEI, “has been manipulated to push policies that expressly favor some demographic groups to the detriment of others.”
The letter is setting up a major clash with nearly every public university in Texas, where the benefits of diversity have been championed. The University of Texas, Texas A&M University and the University of Houston have made DEI programs central to their missions.
Abbott spokesperson Renae Eze on Wednesday told Hearst Newspapers that the letter is meant to remind universities and state agencies about the law.
"Both federal and state law make equity quotas illegal," she said. "Equity is not equality. Here in Texas, we give people a chance to advance based on talent and merit."
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/gov-greg-abbott-going-diversity-hiring-programs-17771911.php
