Brandon Creighton addresses enforcement of state ban on DEI programs at universities on 'Fox & Friends'

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: GOP State senator from Texas Brandon Creighton joined co-host Will Cain to talk about the implementation of the legislation banning Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs at public universities on the Saturday, April 6 episode of 'Fox & Friends.'

Signed by Gov Greg Abbott and in effect from January 1, the law mandates that all governing boards of public colleges and universities ensure that their institutions prohibit the establishment and maintenance of a DEI office. "DEI Statements" can no longer be issued, and hiring practices and training are no longer able to use them as well.

Enforcing the new law

Creighton stated that universities would do well to abide by the law in all seriousness, citing the example of the University of Texas-Austin which recently announced dozens of salary reductions and position terminations in compliance.

"I expect many other public universities around the state to follow in the University of Texas' lead," he told Cain. "We sent a letter from the Texas Senate Education Committee requiring compliance with the new law, and we even have clawback provisions on funding if our universities do not comply. We'll have hearings just in a few weeks, and I think that universities and chancellors and boards of regents are getting ready for those hearings to make sure they can explain they’ve taken this new law very seriously."

Professors at the University of Texas, however, have opposed the move, claiming that it went against academic freedom.

Impact of the legislation

"We want to make sure that these DEI offices are removed from campuses permanently," stated Creighton on the show. "There will be no reauthorizing, renaming, or relaunching the DEI efforts under other strategies, and we are very intent on the Senate Education Committee here in Texas to make sure we achieve exactly that."

"How do we make sure? I think universities are cleaning house as we speak. That's why the University of Texas removed all of those positions just a few days ago following a letter from the Senate Education Committee, and we have the strongest bill in the nation, and we expect those clawback provisions on funding for the entire university to matter."

The politician believed that DEI was simply another form of discrimination, and argued, "We’ve seen data on minority faculty recruitment and hiring showing that hiring and the outcomes are going backwards under DEI. We’ve seen professors in Texas terminated for pledging to treat every student equally. We’ve seen Asian-American students excluded from DEI strategies and political leftist loyalty oaths required of every professor applying for a job."

"We're just not going to stand for that in Texas. That's a chilling effect on free speech," he added.