BUZZ
University of North Texas says event organizer supports deferential treatment of ‘people on the basis of race, color or ethnicity‘
The University of North Texas recently refused to fund a journalism professor’s participation in an upcoming academic conference, stating that its focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion conflicts with state law.
Tracy Everbach is the professor, and she plans to attend the Association of Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s conference in August anyway, KTEN 10 News reports. She will be giving a presentation about a student project on “common media tropes around Indigenous Americans,” according to the report.
Recently, Everbach said the public university denied her request to cover her expenses to the event due to a 2023 state ban on funding DEI programs. She said she was surprised by the denial because she has been attending the conference for decades.
The school “determined that the university-funded membership/sponsorship violates provisions” in state Senate Bill 17, it told Everbach in an email.
These violations include “[p]romoting differential treatment of or providing special benefits to people on the basis of race, color or ethnicity,” including in hiring and policies, as well as “[h]iring or assigning an employee to perform the duties of a diversity, equity and inclusion office,” according to the university.
Everbach said the conference does include “diversity issues,” but that is not its focus.
“I wouldn’t even think there was something wrong with a conference that was just dedicated to diversity,” she said. “But I don’t understand why this particular conference is being singled out, especially when it’s been going on for, you know, decades and I’ve been attending it through UNT for more than 20 years.”
The university defended its decision in a statement to The Denton Record-Chronicle.
“As an R1 university, UNT supports faculty research and attendance at conferences that advance our academic, research, and service missions in compliance with applicable federal and state laws,” it stated.
“However, the university neither funds nor reimburses individual membership in organizations when doing so does not comply with state law,” according to the statement. “The university does not prohibit any employee from joining organizations in a personal capacity.”
The journalism association organizing the conference does promote DEI on its website, KTEN found:
The association’s website includes a statement from October 2023 declaring the organization’s support for diversity in journalism and communication education leadership. …
In a page dedicated to the association’s formal resolutions, the membership has supported Black women in higher education leadership, Indigenous scholars and Indigenous-owned media, and proposed turning its LGBTQ+ interest group into a formal commission. Last year, members passed resolutions celebrating a milestone anniversary of the National Association of Black Journalists and supporting public media.
Texas Senate Bill 17 prohibits public colleges and universities from operating DEI offices or hiring employees to perform duties related to the ideology. It also bans diversity statements in hiring and enrollment.
Some institutions have been accused of finding creative ways to technically adhere to the law while still internally promoting DEI. Undercover videos by Accuracy in Media also have raised questions about compliance.
MORE: University of North Texas to shut down DEI office to comply with new state law
