The University of Texas at Austin is taking heat for removing its diversity, equity, and inclusion offices. Per CBS Austin, Irene Mulvey, president of the American Association of University Professors, blasted UT before a scheduled speaking conference to address the school’s move to cancel DEI on campus and lay off employees. UT laid off dozens of employees who worked in their DEI programs to comply with a new state law, the university announced last week.
One of the students blasted the school for complying with the 'extremist Texan government' and called the layoffs of DEI employees 'wrongful termination.' 'State efforts to undermine initiatives that seek to uplift and protect marginalized groups have no place on our campus,' Maddox Réal, class of 2026, told Fox News Digital.
Cultural graduations were another casualty of the effect of the law, prompting outrage from some students. When the university’s Multicultural Engagement Center was closed in compliance with the state’s law, Black Graduation, Latinx Graduation, and GraduAsian ceremonies were impacted as a result.
She added, 'So having Black graduation is kind of a celebration of the history and of everything that the Black community in Austin, especially UT Austin, has gone through. And then also, UT, while being diverse, is not very diverse in the Black student population. So, Black graduation is a way for all of us to kind of find our own little niche community.'