Texas SB 17 bans DEI offices and diversity practices at all public universities statewide

Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 17, prohibiting Texas public colleges and universities from maintaining DEI offices, requiring diversity statements in hiring or admissions, conducting DEI-focused training, or giving preference based on race, sex, color, or national origin in hiring and admissions decisions. SB 17 also required institutions to certify compliance or risk losing state appropriations. The law applied to the entire Texas higher education system, including the University of Texas, Texas A&M, and over 30 other public institutions. Within months, the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M, and several other institutions began laying off DEI staff and closing offices, producing the most dramatic institutional restructuring of any US university system in recent memory.