It’s been four months since Idaho banned public universities from requesting diversity statements during their admissions and hiring processes. A legislative task force is still hammering out what the state’s anti Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies are targeting.
In their first meeting since the law went into effect, the committee took stock of DEI initiatives on Idaho campuses.
Legislative Research analyst Casey Hartwig said his team reviewed job postings at the top 4 state institutions and found none had written requirements anymore for applicants to submit a diversity statement.
“We also looked at anything where there could be a preference or an enhancement given to people who had experience working with diverse groups of individuals or specific underrepresented groups,” Hartwig said.
“We all want everybody to have an opportunity, a fair shot, but we're not defining what it is,” said Senator Melissa Wintrow.
The only Democrat on the task force, Wintrow asked for clarification on the context that first brought up these state policies.
“We have to define equity. We have to define discrimination,” she said. “We have to define all those things as we go forward. Otherwise we're just doing these word searches,” she added, saying looking to remove any mentions of DEImade her uncomfortable.
“I feel like we're bordering on censorship,” Wintrow said.
The task force will continue these conversations in December, ahead of the 2025 legislative session.
