Some States Want to Ban DEI in Higher Ed. These States Want to Require It.

This academic year, public colleges in Washington state were required to provide training for faculty and staff on diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism — a new mandate based on a 2021 state law. As colleges’ diversity efforts face possible bans in some states, lawmakers in others are doing the opposite: They’re aiming to affirm these programs through legislation. Proposals this year in Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey present a striking contrast to what’s happening in states like South Carolina, where lawmakers have debated defunding diversity efforts, and Texas, where a handful of bills would ban critical race theory and prohibit diversity training, among other restrictions.