Utah university cultural centers choose to shutter after DEI ban

Cultural centers at some Utah universities are deciding to close down in response to the state's partial diversity, equity, and inclusion restriction despite the law not requiring them to do so.

The DEI restriction, which does not ban the ideology but pares back some of the programs in the state's universities and government offices, went into effect Monday. While guidance about how to implement the new law does not advise schools to close their cultural centers, which are often race-, sex-, or sexual orientation-based student support offices, some have decided to do so anyway.

Guidance from the Utah System of Higher Education does require that schools shut down offices that are "discriminatory," meaning in part that programs, offices, procedures, or other initiatives based on "personal identity characteristics" would not be permitted. For all intents and purposes, a cultural center would be required to service students who do not meet the race, sex, or other characteristic upon which it is based.

Particularly in light of stronger bans such as those implemented in Texas and Florida that were aimed more at routing out the ideology at the core, Utah's law was applauded by some DEI proponents as a "compromise," a middle ground of getting rid of the coercive aspects, such as trainings or support statements, while maintaining some programs.

Despite that, five of six public universities in Utah have announced they will close down at least one cultural center on their campuses.

“The intention of the law is to promote student success for all students in our schools and universities and ensure any student who needs support and services has them available,” Republican state Rep. Katy Hall, who sponsored the DEI restriction bill, told Inside Higher Ed. “As I understand it, some of the universities have chosen to [close certain student centers] to better meet the goals I just described. I hope that students who benefitted from these centers in the past know that the expectation is that they will still be able to receive the services and support that they need to succeed with their educational goals.”

University of Utah's Black Cultural Center, for example, shut down its website and moved its student resources and support programs to the Center for Student Access and Resources while moving "cultural education, celebration activities, and awareness programs" to the Center for Cultural and Community Engagement. The school also announced it would close its Center for Equity and Student Belonging, LGBT Resource Center, and Women's Resource Center. The American Indian Resource Center will be renamed the Center for Native Excellence and Tribal Engagement.

Southern Utah University is getting rid of its Center for Diversity and Inclusion as well as its LGBT center, called the Q Center, and Utah State University is closing its Inclusion Center but moving programs to other offices. However, USU will keep its "Latinx Cultural Center" open and create a Native American Cultural Center, so long as they are approved by the state board of higher education.

Weber State University shut down its Division of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, which housed five cultural centers and a LGBT center. But that school is opening a Student Success Center and moving most of the faculty and staff from the DEI office to continue much of their work there.

Utah Commissioner of Higher Education Geoffrey Landward told the Salt Lake Tribune there could be a university system-side multicultural center to replace the more characteristic-specific cultural centers, something which the University of Utah and Utah State University have already said they would do.

“You create an umbrella cultural center,” Landward told the outlet. “This preserves our ability to educate and celebrate different cultures, but in a way that doesn’t expose us to more criticism … without having to answer the question: ‘Why does this one group get a center and another group doesn’t?’”

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While Landward said the cultural centers are not outlawed, he anticipates they could be in the future, as the centers are widely criticized among opponents of DEI for only offering their services to certain students who meet their racial or sexual criteria while excluding others. He added that schools moving to close their cultural centers now is likely well advised.

Gov. Spencer Cox's (R-UT) office did not respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.