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

The University of Kentucky will disband its Office for Institutional Diversity in response to questions from policymakers on whether the school 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 diversity office will be shifted elsewhere on campus, including into a newly created Office for Community Relations, UK President Eli Capilouto announced 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.

“But we’ve also listened to policymakers and heard many of their questions about whether we appear partisan or political on the issues of our day and, as a result, narrowly interpret things solely through the lens of identity,” the campus president said. “In so doing, the concern is that we either intentionally or unintentionally limit discourse. I hear many of those concerns reflected in discussions with some of our students, faculty and staff across our campus.”

Universities in other states have been grappling with similar issues, he noted.

The quest to limit DEI initiatives gained momentum this year in a number of statehouses in red