“Diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) programs, which have been associated with fostering antisemitism and other forms of racism, would no longer receive state funding under legislation advanced by the Oklahoma Senate.

Senate Bill 796, by state Sen. Adam Pugh, states that no Oklahoma college or university “shall utilize state funds, property, or resources to grant or support diversity, equity, and inclusion positions, departments, activities, procedures, or programs” and bars state colleges from mandating training based on DEI.

The bill also prohibits state colleges and universities from requiring job applicants to submit DEI statements as a condition of employment.

“Our higher education institutions should focus on providing quality education and workforce development opportunities rather than engaging in politically driven initiatives,” said Pugh, R-Edmond. “Senate Bill 796 reaffirms our commitment to a fair and merit-based academic environment, where students and faculty are not subject to ideological litmus tests. Oklahoma’s public colleges and universities should be centers of learning, not ideological indoctrination.”

Pugh said the legislation would make permanent the restrictions already imposed on state colleges through an executive order issued by Gov. Kevin Stitt.

In February 2023, Oklahoma’s public colleges reported spending at least $83.4 million on DEI programs and personnel over the prior decade. Those expenditures included funding for drag-queen performances, a program on fostering “Trans and Non‐Binary Resilience,” so-called “antiracist” training, and a presentation on “Black Jesus.”

A 2021 report by the Heritage Foundation showed that for every one Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) staff member at the University of Oklahoma, there were 4.4 DEI personnel, the 24th highest ratio among 65 universities studied.

Oklahoma State University had the 23rd highest ratio for DEI-staff-to-history faculty with 26 DEI dedicated personnel, compared to 17 history professors.

Democrats objected to the bill.

“We cannot move forward as a state, we cannot have economic security in our state, unless we are all trained in inclusion,” said state Sen. Mary Boren, D-Norman.

State Sen. Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, dismissed concerns about the negative impacts of DEI as “fabricated controversies.”

However, DEI programs had been publicly cited, repeatedly, as a cause of growing anti-Semitism on college campuses.

And when researchers recently examined DEI trainings, they found that many increased prejudice—so much so that individuals who underwent DEI training became more likely to endorse viewpoints expressed by Adolph Hitler.

Some lawmakers who opposed SB 796 suggested that DEI critics are comparable to the racist Democrats who ran Oklahoma a century ago and implemented segregation as one of the first acts of the first Oklahoma Legislature.

“We have issues as it pertains to race in America,” said state Sen. Regina Goodwin, D-Tulsa. “We have issues as it pertains to race in Oklahoma.”

She argued that DEI critics’ race plays a role in their views.

“Do we have to be hush-mouthed about the fact that white folks brought this bill to the floor?” Goodwin said.

Pugh said that argument highlighted why SB 796 is needed.

“It was said, ‘It’s the white guy running the bill,’” Pugh said. “Well, we knew that was coming, didn’t we? And that’s exactly what drives the heart of this very issue. Is it right for us to only see each other through the lens of our skin color? That’s exactly the point of why these programs ruin us.”

State Sen. Dusty Deevers, R-Elgin, said DEI is “a weaponized, Marxist, Gramscian ideology that does the very opposite of what each of those single words does on their own, and this Marxist, Gramscian ideology is a rot and a blight on our institutions.”

Elimination of DEI in state colleges is necessary so that “equal opportunity can prevail,” Deevers said.

SB 796 passed the Oklahoma Senate on a 39-8 vote that broke along party lines with Republicans in support and Democrats in opposition. The bill now proceeds to the Oklahoma House of Representatives.