By Joshua Arnold

Three public universities in Alabama will close their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) offices to comply with a new law passed by the legislature in March. The University of Alabama (UA) in Tuscaloosa, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), and the University of Alabama at Huntsville (UAH) all announced the closures on Monday.

Another university, Jacksonville State (JSU), had previously closed its DEI office, while Auburn University has yet to decide how it will comply.

The three universities closed their DEI offices, and each opened a new office, staffed by the same personnel. A new Division of Opportunities, Connections and Success at UA, led by Christine Taylor, former associate provost of DEI, “furthers the University’s efforts to promote success for everyone in the UA community, including those who may face educational access and achievement challenges.” A spokesperson for UA confirmed that no staff were fired.

At UAH, the school’s former vice president of DEI, Bryan Samuel, will head the new Office of Access, Connections, and Engagement. Meanwhile, UAB’s Vice President for Access and Engagement Paulette Dilworth, formerly the vice president for DEI, will lead the new Office of Access and Engagement.

In their public statements, the universities strove to strike the proper balance between continuity and compliance. “Our mission has not wavered, and we remain committed to our institutional goals to welcome all, serve all and see all thrive and succeed,” declared UA President Stuart Bell, while a UA spokeswoman clarified that the “duties and responsibilities of impacted employees will be adjusted.”

Similarly, UAB officials promised that “the university will continue to provide resources and support for all campus community members” and “remains committed to recruiting and retaining outstanding students, faculty and staff from all backgrounds, providing open and equal access to resources and opportunities, and equipping all campus community members for success.” At the same time, UAB President Ray Watts explained, “this is a new office with a new, exciting function, focusing on what we can do to promote success for everyone in the UAB community.”

The universities’ measured statements did not quite convince local media that a sea change was under way. “It’s not clear whether any of the schools are making significant changes to staff responsibilities and programming — or just renaming offices and projects,” remarked AL.com, the state’s most widely-read news outlet.

However, a lengthy UAB statement suggested some shift in mission, or at least in emphasis. “We recognize that some students, faculty and staff face more barriers and a greater need for additional support than others due to their circumstances,” said Dilworth. “From first-generation college students to students from rural or urban areas or underperforming high schools, to students and employees who are veterans or active-duty military, these are just a few examples of members of the UAB community — now and in the future — who may need additional support to succeed.”

Reading between the lines, Dilworth highlighted groups that in Alabama are disproportionately black. Nearly 60% of black college students are first-generation, comprising 18% of the first-generation population, half again as much as their demographic proportion. Alabama’s black population is concentrated in 1) rural counties known as the state’s so-called “black belt” and 2) urban centers such as Birmingham, Montgomery, and Mobile. A majority of underperforming schools are located in these same areas.

Yet the push against DEI in colleges was never about preventing black students from getting the help they need. It was about stamping out a harmful, divisive, toxic ideology that classified people as good or evil based on the color of their skin — in other words, racism. It’s much easier to justify a university office that helps first-generation college students navigate a world foreign to them and their family, or that helps students from underperforming high schools catch up with academic resources, or that helps students from rural or urban homes adjust to a strange new place.

In theory, at least, such a university office would work to the benefit of students who genuinely need help, not students who superficially belong to certain identity groups. In practice, the office could simply be a clever disguise for the same DEI gangrene that infected the colleges previously. Only God can look at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7, John 2:25); the rest of us will have to wait to form a judgment from the results (Matthew 7:16-20).

Alabama’s law prohibiting DEI programming in publicly funded institutions advances a growing trend of state action against anti-American, Marxist ideology in higher education. In 2023, the Florida legislature passed a law defunding DEI in higher education, which curtailed these practices in Florida universities — and now Alabama and its universities have followed suit. Such salutary legislation will only become easier as momentum grows, especially as corporate America continues to veer away from fundamentally unprofitable DEI initiatives.

Joshua Arnold is a senior writer at The Washington Stand.