In Kentucky, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, and other red states, state-funded universities and colleges are very publicly dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives as state lawmakers threaten the state schools with legislation that hasnt even passed.It doesnt have to the threats just need to earn administrators attention. Related Alabama GOP passes extreme gag order to ban diversity discussions in universities The sweeping education bill also includes a trans bathroom ban. In the case of the University of Kentucky at Lexington, the state school disbanded its office promoting DEI efforts in response to lawmakers questioning whether UKs focus on identity has stifled political discussions, its president said Tuesday. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The school has listened to policymakers and heard many of their questions about whether we appear partisan or political on the issues of our day and, as a result, narrowly interpret things solely through the lens of identity, UK President Eli Capilouto wrote in a campus-wide email.In so doing, the concern is that we either intentionally or unintentionally limit discourse. I hear many of those concerns reflected in discussions with some of our students, faculty, and staff across our campus.While a bill addressing those concerns failed to make it out of the legislature, Capilouto acted preemptively to shut down the schools Office for Institutional Diversity and divide its responsibilities among other school departments; a new Office for Community Relations will take on some of the shuttered departments responsibilities, Capilouto said, and the restructuring wont result in job losses. The schools core values to protect academic freedom and promote a sense of belonging for everyone on campus, regardless of background or perspective, will remain intact, he added.A statement on UKs previous DEI office website read its mission was to enhance the diversity and inclusivity of our university community through the recruitment and retention of an increasingly diverse population. Initiatives promoting diversity-related experiences can help ensure success in an interconnected world, the mission statement read.In his statement, Capilouto noted other states have been grappling with the same issue. On Tuesday, Rodney Bennett, the first Black chancellor to run the University of Nebraska, announced plans to disband that schools Office of Diversity and Inclusion. I fully grasp the weight of this decision and its implications, but a centralized approach to this work is no longer right for our institution, Bennett said in a public letter.Like Kentucky, the Nebraska state school will split the former offices responsibility among other departments.In Iowa earlier this year, the Republican-led legislature approved a budget bill that would ban all DEI offices, while Missouri lawmakers have introduced several anti-DEI bills, although the legislation hasnt passed. Regardless, the University of Missouri recently announced it is dissolving that schools Inclusion, Diversity and Equity department and dispersing the staff.While rearranging the departments title didnt help save Missouris IDE office, dividing the mission among departments seems to have ameliorated lawmakers concerns, as it has in Kentucky and Nebraska.A true elimination of these DEI policies in our public universities will end the division they promote and allow our colleges and universities to be the true bastion of free thought we need them to be, Kentucky Republican state Sen. Mike Wilson said in a statement.How true that elimination turns out to be remains in the hands of university officials for now.