Indiana SB 202 bans DEI offices and diversity statements at public universities

Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb signed Senate Bill 202, which barred Indiana public universities from maintaining DEI offices, requiring diversity statements in faculty hiring, or using state funds for DEI-related programming or training. The law also allowed tenured faculty to be dismissed for cause if found to have used their position to advance political agendas. Indiana's law came as part of the same legislative wave that swept through Texas, Florida, Alabama, and Utah. Purdue University, Indiana University, and Ball State University all began compliance reviews immediately. The tenure clause in Indiana's law was among the most aggressive in any state anti-DEI statute, raising immediate concerns from the AAUP about whether it could be used to discipline faculty whose research touched on race, gender, or political science.