A proposal to remove mention of diversity, equity and inclusion from all public schools, colleges and universities is progressing through the Georgia Legislature.
The Senate Committee on Higher Education voted Monday 6-2 in favor of Senate Bill 120 after hearing earlier from sponsor Sen. Marty Harbin, R-Tyron, the only advocate, plus 21 opponents.
“DEI programs have increasingly become tools of ideology enforcement rather than inclusion,” Harbin said. “Too often they result in a campus culture where descenting viewpoints are silenced, where professors fear retribution for presenting alternate perspectives and where students self-censor themselves to avoid accusations of insensitivity or bias.”
Opponent Aireane Montgomery, CEO of Georgia Educators for Equity and Justice, told the committee, “America is diverse and Georgia is diverse and despite the myths of meritocracy, many people in this country do not have the same entry point as others in achieving this so-called American dream. That is not by accident, this is by design. Systems of exclusion have long shaped who has access to opportunity and this bill only deepens those disparities.”
If enacted into law, any institution that keeps its diversity, equity and inclusion programming or language could lose its state or federal funds, as well as scholarships, grants and loans for students.
The bill defines diversity, equity and inclusion as different treatment or special benefits for individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, ethnicity, national origin, gender identity or sexual orientation. It doesn’t mention religion, veteran status or individuals with disabilities, although many such policies do.
“I do think this bill is not necessary,” said Matthew Boedy, professor of rhetoric and composition at University of North Georgia and president of the Georgia American Association of University Professors.
“The university system has taken steps to abolish DEI programs and activities that deal with students for the last two or three years, ending DEI offices, taking down websites that include those things and of course at the federal level we have the executive orders that are doing the same thing,” Boedy said.
“It’s also vaguely written because it doesn’t define what programs and activities are,” he said.
The University System of Georgia has not mandated colleges to require diversity and inclusion in hiring and admissions since July 2023.
“Based off of SB 120 and the vagueness of what they are calling DEI programs [the bill] will lower the diversity of our universities as 60% of students are non-white and over 50% are women that attend these schools,” said Nicola Hines, president of League of Women’s Voters Georgia. “If you truly want diversity and inclusion, those students will not be seeking Georgia schools.”
When President Donald Trump took office, he signed an executive order dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives within the federal government that former President Joe Biden had established early during his term. As many as 30 state legislatures have introduced legislation to dismantle DEI initiatives.
Sponsor Harbin said DEI programs interfere with free speech.
“There should be a freedom of speech, a freedom of thought, a freedom of disagreement even,” he said, “Without retribution, in every campus that we fund with taxpayer dollars.”
