Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, leads a meeting of the Arkansas Legislative Council’s Higher Education subcommittee on Sept. 3, 2024 on Arkansas State University’s Jonesboro campus. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate)
JONESBORO — An Arkansas lawmaker on Tuesday renewed his vow to file legislation to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs at the state’s colleges and universities.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Jonesboro Republican and co-chair of the Arkansas Legislative Council’s Higher Education subcommittee, last August requested a DEI study to be completed by the end of 2024 with the intention of proposing legislation during the 2025 legislative session.
Arkansas lawmakers to complete higher ed DEI study by end of 2024
Sullivan announced the conclusion of the study Tuesday at the subcommittee’s meeting on Arkansas State University’s Jonesboro campus, though no formal report was presented. During a brief three-minute discussion, Sullivan said officials would post links online to legislation in Florida and Texas that will be used as models for an Arkansas bill in 2025.
DEI programs at higher education institutions have become a target for lawmakers across the country following the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down the use of affirmative action in college admissions. DEI measures at state university systems have been banned or rolled back in at least 22 states, according to Stateline.
Two conservative think tanks, the Manhattan and Goldwater Institutes, in January 2023 released model state legislation to dismantle administrative structures that support DEI efforts at public colleges. Among other things, the legislation would prohibit schools from hiring DEI officers, bar training designed to identify and fight systemic racism, and eliminate requirements for employees to commit to diversity statements, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Sen. Fred Love, D-Little Rock, said Tuesday that he wanted to formally announce his opposition to Sullivan’s future legislation.
“I’m not sure why this attack on DEI is necessary, but I’m going on record saying I’m going to be against this legislation because I feel like diversity, equity and inclusion provides a richness to all of our campuses,” Love said.
Sen. Fred Love, D-Little Rock, asks a question during a meeting of the Arkansas Legislative Council’s Higher Education subcommittee on Sept. 3, 2024 as his colleagues, Rep. Jamie Scott, D-Little Rock, and Sen. Greg Leding, D-Fayetteville, listen. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate)
Sullivan sponsored a bill during the 2023 legislative session to end state-sponsored affirmative action, which he described as ending discrimination. It died on the House floor the last week of the legislative session after several passionate speeches from members of both parties against the bill. The legislation was recommended for study in the Senate’s Interim Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs.
Sullivan told the Advocate after Tuesday’s meeting that the intent of his proposed legislation, which has not been drafted, is similar to his 2023 bill.
“They’re based on need and that’s what the bill says — we’re going to base things on need, we’re going to base things on merit,” Sullivan said. “So if you have a need, and you qualify for assistance from the state, you qualify based on your need, not whether you’re a different race or whether you’re a different gender, whether you’re a different sex, whether you’re a different ethnicity.”
Arkansas higher education officials field DEI questions from lawmakers
Officials representing six Arkansas universities told lawmakers during a legislative hearing last October that their DEI efforts support the recruitment and retention of students from various backgrounds and do not include lowered admission standards for certain groups.
Sullivan is not the only Arkansas official to express opposition to DEI initiatives. Rep. Mindy McAlindon, R-Bentonville, was lead sponsor of a 2023 law that prohibits public schools or state-supported institutions of higher education from requiring implicit bias training.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an executive order on her first day in office that prohibits the “indoctrination” of public school students with ideologies like Critical Race Theory, or CRT. The theory is typically not taught in K-12 schools in Arkansas. The language of the executive order is mirrored in the LEARNS Act, Sanders’ signature education legislation.
Education has been a priority for Sanders, who, after focusing on K-12 education in 2023, has said she wants to address higher education next year.
“The governor has said that higher ed is one of her priorities this coming legislative session, and diversity, equity and inclusion as the chair of higher ed is going to be one of mine,” Sullivan said.
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