UK and UNL Disband Their DEI Offices

Dr. Eli CapuloutoThe University of Kentucky is disbanding its Office of Institutional Diversity. Meanwhile, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln announced on the same day that it would also dissolve its Office of Diversity & Inclusion. 

Kentucky President Dr. Eli Capilouto announced the dissolution Tuesday, asserting that office workers would be reassigned to other offices at the university.

The office supported the university’s mission to advance Kentucky — from its economy to its health and from its culture to its levels of educational attainment. Its stated goal was to enhance diversity and inclusivity through the recruitment and retention of an increasingly diverse population of faculty, administrators, staff and students.

State lawmakers in Kentucky unsuccessfully pursued legislation (Senate Bill 6) during their last session to limit or eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the state but were primed to revisit the issue.

Kentucky and Nebraska are among a growing number of states considering bans on such initiatives and whose higher education institutions are taking steps to comply with the new policies.

“After considerable reflection and a thorough review of both the national landscape and the specific needs of our institution, the Office of Diversity & Inclusion will be dissolved, and the position of Vice Chancellor for Diversity will be eliminated,” said UNL Chancellor Dr. Rodney D. Bennett, who is African American. “We will reimagine how we approach this work at UNL. I fully grasp the weight of this decision and its implications, but a centralized approach to this work is no longer right for our institution.”