University of Kentucky to disband diversity office after GOP lawmakers pushed anti-DEI legislation

The University of Kentucky will disband its office promoting diversity and inclusion efforts in response to questions from policymakers that its focus on identity has stifled political discussions, its president said Tuesday.

The action on the Lexington, Kentucky, campus comes after state lawmakers debated whether to limit diversity, equity and inclusion practices at public universities. Republican supermajorities in the Kentucky House and Senate were unable to resolve differences on the issue before ending this year’s session in April, but the matter has been expected to resurface when lawmakers reconvene early next year.

In the school’s preemptive action, units housed in the shuttered Office for Institutional Diversity will be shifted elsewhere on campus, including into a newly created Office for Community Relations, UK President Eli Capilouto said in a campuswide email. The restructuring won’t result in job losses, he said.

Capilouto stressed that the school’s core values remain intact — to protect academic freedom and promote a “sense of belonging” for everyone on campus, regardless of background or perspective.

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