Timeline
This rough timeline of SB-17's implementation at the University of Texas seeks to track the changes on campus and help community members understand how the bill's effect has progressed.
April 2023:
Texas Senate approves bill that would restrict the University of Texas System’s higher education from programs that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in a 19 to 12 vote. (Kate McGee, “Texas Senate approves bill that would ban diversity programs in public universities,” Texas Tribune, April 19, 2023.)
May 29, 2023:
Senate Bill 17 is officially approved and signed by both the Texas Senate and House of Representatives.
June 17, 2023:
Senate Bill 17 is signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott, and is set to go into effect on January 1, 2024.
September 15, 2023:
UT releases the UT System’s SB-17 Working Guidance plan, detailing what activities and programs are now restricted, and what is still allowed under university sponsorship.
October 11, 2023:
UT System updates its rule on firing tenured faculty members in accordance with Senate Bill 18, which permits state universities to fire a professor with “good cause” after due process. (Lily Kepner, “UT System sets rules to comply with new Texas tenure, anti-DEI laws,” Austin American-Statesman, November 17, 2023.)
December 1, 2023:
UT President Jay Hartzell sends out an email notifying the campus community of the impending changes, and the aspects that will remain unchanged, such as research and academic subject areas, celebrated holidays and cultural celebration months, and recruitment.
December 14, 2023:
Vice President for Diversity and Community Engagement Dr. Letoya Smith announces in an email that the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement (DDCE) will be known from January 1, 2024 on as the Division of Campus and Community Engagement. The Vice President notes that the mission of fostering access and belonging for all Longhorns will not change.
January 1, 2024:
Senate Bill 17 officially goes into effect. At UT, many offices, programs, and initiatives are changed or closed. The DDCE becomes the Division of Campus and Community Engagement; the Multicultural Engagement Center is closed, leaving the six student agencies previously sponsored by the office with no funding; the Gender and Sexuality Center becomes the Women's Community Center and loses all programming relating to the LGBTQ+ community; the Office for Institutional Equity becomes the Center for Access and Restorative Engagement; all identity based staff and faculty resource groups had to host their organizations independently; and UT's cultural graduations would no longer be hosted by the university. (Lily Kepner, “What UT lost with SB 17: American-Statesman's guide to changes due to Texas' anti-DEI law,” Austin American-Statesman, January 29, 2024.)
March 26, 2024:
Senator Brandon Creighton, original author of SB-17, sends a letter to Texas System Boards of Regents notifying them of the upcoming hearing to review universities’ level of compliance with the recent bill. Lack of compliance would leave a university at risk of legal action and loss of state funding. (Lily Kepner, "UT Faculty Council resolutions condemn April 2 former DEI terminations, response to protests," Austin American-Statesman, May 21, 2024.)
April 2, 2024:
UT President Jay Hartzell announces through an email the closure of the Division of Campus and Community Engagement, formerly Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, resulting in the loss of funding and termination of more than 60 staff positions. Certain programs under the division remain in operation under various offices, while others were closed permanently.
April 8, 2024
Around 200 students gather during the solar eclipse event to silently protest UT’s decision to lay off around 60 staff members and the closure of the campus Division of Campus and Community Engagement under the slogan “Not Our Texas,” referencing UT’s slogan “Make it Your/Our Texas.” (Char Adams, “UT Austin students protest school’s DEI layoffs amid state ban,” NBC News, April 18, 2024.)
May 14, 2024:
Senator Creighton calls a hearing into session, raising concerns that universities are not complying with SB-17. The same day, two dozen protesters marched from UT’s main tower to the Texas Capitol in protest of the bill’s anti-DEI policies. (Sneha Dey, “Under scrutiny from legislators, Texas university leaders attest to how they’re complying with the state’s DEI ban,” Texas Tribune, May 14, 2024.)