UT Austin has eliminated multiple staff positions focused on diversity, equity and inclusion in the latest effort to comply with Texas' anti-DEI law.
Around 60 staffers were laid off Tuesday, according to the Texas Conference of the American Association of University Professors and the Texas NAACP.
Senate Bill 17, which bans Texas public universities from having DEI programs and trainings, went into effect Jan. 1. At the beginning of the year, UT Austin closed its Multicultural Engagement Center, which housed student groups like Latinx Community Affairs, the Asian Desi Pacific Islander American Collective, and Queer and Trans Black Indigenous People of Color and Allies. It also shut down Monarch, a program that offered support and scholarships to undocumented students. Members of these groups say they have struggled to continue their organizations' work on campus.
On Tuesday, the university went a step further and announced it is closing the Division of Campus and Community Engagement and laying off some employees who worked on DEI.