Colleges across West Virginia were scrambling this week to react to an executive order by Gov. Patrick Morrisey, a Republican, ending all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at state-run institutions.
The DEI order, both sweeping and sudden, bans public colleges from using state money for programs, offices, or staff positions that grant preferential treatment based on a person’s race, color, sex, ethnicity, or national origin. Also banned: diversity training, the use of diversity statements in hiring, “loyalty oaths,” and requiring people to disclose their preferred pronouns.
The order said it was “in the interest of the citizens of West Virginia that the state government treat them as equals under the law” rather than giving some people preferential or discriminatory treatment. Advocates of diversity programs say colleges have an obligation to actively fight discrimination on campus and to support groups of students who disproportionately struggle to acclimate to and graduate from predominantly white institutions.
Morrisey gave “cabinet secretaries and department heads” (it’s unclear what that means in the higher-education context) across the state 30 days to identify any position, program, activity, or procedure that advocates for or encourages preferential treatment “based on theories of DEI,” as well as any state money being used for that purpose. These administrators will then have 90 days to propose plans to get rid of them.
The order prompted an immediate rebuke from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), which said that, as written, it violates the First Amendment by unconstitutionally censuring teaching and classroom discussions.
“While states may limit certain DEI programs or activities of state agencies, this executive order is written so broadly — impacting all state agencies and organizations receiving state funding — that it applies to in-classroom instruction in higher education, as well,” the statement released Wednesday said.
“Accordingly, this order violates the First Amendment and must be rescinded or amended to make clear that it does not affect what’s discussed in college classrooms.” The state’s public colleges should act quickly to make sure academic freedom is protected and teaching isn’t censored, it said. FIRE singled out a passage that it said would include college-classroom instruction:
[No] entity receiving state funds, shall utilize state funds, property, or resources to … mandate any person to participate in, listen to, or receive any education, training, activities, procedures, or programming to the extent such education, training, activity, or procedure promotes or encourages the granting of preferences based on one person’s particular race, color, sex, ethnicity, or national origin over that of another.
Faculty members have the right, FIRE said, to discuss “pedagogically-relevant material” even if it offends students, colleagues, the public, or lawmakers.
The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request to clarify whether the order is intended to include what happens in college classrooms.
It comes at a time when Republican lawmakers, buoyed by support from President-elect Donald J. Trump, are gearing up for another round of bans and restrictions on colleges’ diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. The Chronicle has tracked 86 such bills in 28 states and the U.S. Congress. Fourteen have become law. Alabama’s DEI ban was challenged in court this week when the NAACP joined a group of Alabama faculty members and students in calling the law discriminatory and a violation of free speech.
When restrictions are approved by state legislators before making their way to governors’ desks, DEI supporters can have an opportunity to testify and lobby for their programs, sometimes over the course of weeks or months. In many states, supporters have succeeded in softening or defeating the anti-DEI proposals. By wiping out DEI in an executive order, Morrisey ensured that colleges in West Virginia, a state where 93 percent of the population is white, would have no such input.
West Virginia University’s Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion “exists because WVU is always striving to create the safe, diverse, welcoming community we all deserve,” its website says. April Kaull, a spokeswoman for WVU, said the university is reviewing the executive order to see how it might affect accreditation and professional licensure standards that include DEI requirements. She said the university doesn’t use any state dollars to comply with federal DEI requirements.
The ban on DEI adds to the challenges faced by the Morgantown university, which in recent years has had to make severe budget cuts because of declining enrollment and growing deficits.
The DEI ban was one of eight executive orders Morrisey issued Tuesday on his first full day as the state’s chief executive. Another allowed families to claim religious exemptions from required school vaccinations.
The West Virginia Democratic Party condemned the executive orders on DEI and vaccines, saying they were “not only short-sighted but also mean-spirited, posing significant risks to the health and unity of our communities.”
In a post on X, Christopher F. Rufo, a conservative activist and leading opponent of DEI, called the executive order “a beautiful bill.”
Shaun Harper, a professor of education, public policy, and business at the University of Southern California and the founder of its Race and Equity Center said the language in the executive order “makes clear to me that Governor Morrisey doesn’t really know what DEI is.”
“It’s also apparent that he didn’t ask West Virginians who design, lead, and benefit from DEI initiatives what those programs and policies are or how they benefit his state. Such reckless policymaking may ultimately cost taxpayers millions, perhaps even billions in harassment and discrimination lawsuits that could’ve been avoided.”
