Texas Democrats are beginning their new majority in the state House by seeking to restore diversity, equity and inclusion programs and offices at public universities. Republicans are expected to oppose the effort, but the proposal brings the divisive issue back into focus after major Democratic gains in Texas.
House Bill 358 and Senate Bill 125 would repeal a 2023 law barring DEI offices and programs at public universities. The bills face difficult prospects because Republicans still control the state Senate. Even so, Democrats are signaling a broader effort to reverse a major Republican education policy after campaigning on issues including the war in Iran, immigration and the cost of living.
Some conservative policy experts say DEI restrictions could be weakened even without a repeal if new university governing-board members do not enforce them. Chuck DeVore, chief national initiatives officer at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, said the bills are unlikely to reach the governor while Republicans control the Senate. He predicted that universities might bring back similar programs under different names as appointments to their boards change, and said his organization would consider legal action to enforce state law.
Signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, the 2023 law took effect on Jan. 1, 2024. It barred public universities from operating DEI offices or assigning employees or contractors to carry out their work. The law also prohibited requiring or soliciting DEI statements from students or faculty, restricted certain preferences based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin, and barred mandatory DEI training. Exceptions were made for academic instruction, scholarly research and registered student groups.
Several universities changed their programs after the law took effect. The University of Texas at Austin closed its Multicultural Engagement Center and ended its Monarch program, which offered advising, mental-health support and scholarships to undocumented and other noncitizen students. The University of Houston System stopped requiring DEI statements in hiring and promotion decisions. UT Health San Antonio also ended a loan-repayment program for faculty from underrepresented backgrounds.
At a Texas Senate higher education subcommittee hearing in May 2024, UT System Chancellor J.B. Milliken said the system had closed 21 DEI offices, eliminated 311 full- and part-time positions focused on DEI, and canceled 681 contracts, programs and training sessions. Some critics have continued to argue that universities are keeping similar initiatives in place under new names or structures.
Texas A&M University faced questions after it dissolved its Office for Diversity but moved six of the office’s eight employees into other campus roles. Former vice president for diversity Annie McGowan received a new position, a 10% pay increase and nine months of paid leave. Critics said the changes preserved DEI work in another form. The university said the office and its related duties had been eliminated, and that the raises were not connected to DEI.
Kate Bierly, a higher education campaign director at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, said Democrats could weaken the law through university appointments even if the Legislature does not repeal it. In her view, regents could allow prohibited practices to return by declining to enforce the restrictions.
Many university regents’ terms expire on Feb. 1, 2027, giving Democratic Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa an opportunity to nominate replacements. But the Republican-controlled Senate must confirm those appointments.
Bierly said a provision in the Texas Constitution allows some unpaid appointees, including regents, to remain in office after their terms end. The 90th Legislature is scheduled to convene in January 2027, before the regents’ terms expire. If the Senate does not confirm replacements, current regents could remain until the regular session of the 91st Legislature ends in 2029, she said.
DeVore said the arrangement could create political pressure on Senate Republicans. Democrats might use a refusal to confirm Hinojosa’s nominees to argue that Republicans are blocking the governor’s appointments, he said. That could lead to a compromise, though he also warned that supporting one could put a Republican at risk in a primary election.
Texas is part of a wider national retreat from DEI programs in government and higher education. The Supreme Court’s 2023 decision against race-based university admissions preferences preceded a broader federal push. After returning to office in 2025, President Donald Trump moved to dismantle federal DEI programs and directed schools receiving federal funds to end race-based preferences in areas such as admissions, hiring and scholarships.
Republican-led states have also pursued restrictions at public universities. In Texas, the political shift has been especially pronounced: Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton are leaving office, and Paxton defeated Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican Senate primary.
Democrats won the governorship, the attorney general’s office and a U.S. Senate seat, while regaining control of the state House for the first time in more than 20 years. Republicans kept their Senate majority, leaving them with the power to block both the DEI repeal bills and Hinojosa’s regent nominees.
Bierly said protecting the state’s DEI restrictions depends not just on the law itself, but also on whether university leaders carry it out.
The sponsors of the repeal bills, Democratic state Rep. John Bucy and Democratic state Sen. José Menéndez, did not respond to requests for comment before publication. Former Republican state Sen. Brandon Creighton, who wrote the 2023 law and now leads the Texas Tech University System, also did not respond. The University of Texas System, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and Texas Students for DEI likewise did not provide comment.
