NCAA: Texas votes in favor of bill banning diversity
The Texas Senate voted 19-12 to pass a bill which would ban mandated diversity, equity, and inclusion in public universities and colleges.
Leave it to Texas to vote in favor of banning a bill that promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). On Wednesday, they did just that. The state Senate voted 19-12 in favor of a bill that would prohibit public universities and colleges from having DEI offices, mandatory training on race, ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation, as well as requiring diversity in the hiring process - instead, adopting a “color-blind and sex-neutral hiring process”.
Texas state Senator Brandon Creighton argued that the DEI efforts do the opposite of their intention and thus, they should be banned.
“We cannot support policies that exclude other Texans, or quite frankly, some of the best and brightest applicants to our universities from all over the world,” Creighton said. “In prohibiting those diversity statements we will end the practice of compelling speech, rather, fostering an environment of supporting free speech.”
The American Association of University Professors has stated its opposition to the bill, saying that it could leave Texas schools out of some federal grant programs as well as make them less enticing to professors and resulting in the loss of both income and good teachers.
How the proposed Texas bill would affect NCAA sports
The NCAA currently requires universities to provide training in regards to “the creation of diverse and inclusive environments”. It also requires that a full-time staff member be in charge of athletics diversity and inclusion. The NCAA also requires universities to complete a DEI review every five years, and failure to comply will result in a $500 fine.
The Senate bill would prohibit any mandatory training in this area, therefore directly counteracting the requirements of the NCAA. That could have a negative impact on Texas schools in the NCAA, possibly resulting in the NCAA banning their athletic programs. It’s not unheard of - in 2019, they banned California schools when the state allowed student athletes to profit off their name, image, and likeness rights.
However, Texas schools’ athletic programs make up a big portion of the income in the NCAA, and it’s unlikely they can afford to go so far as to ban them from participating in events. They could, however, take other actions, like championship events - something they did in North Carolina when the state put transgender bathroom restrictions in place. The NCAA lifted the sanctions only when NC repealed the bill.