Key Takeaways

• UCO’s Faculty Senate met April 9 to discuss changes to the Faculty Handbook
• One change was to the University’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Statement
• Multiple Faculty Senate members expressed dissatisfaction with the proposed statement, and acknowledged the need to comply with state and federal laws policing DEI.

In order to comply with state and federal laws concerning Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, UCO’s Faculty Senate must decide whether to remove or replace the DEI statement in the Faculty Handbook.

According to a document provided to The Independent View by a member of the Faculty Senate, UCO’s General Counsel recommended removing the diversity statement to comply with state and federal laws.

Proposed changes to Appendix C would remove a section instructing hiring committees to consider a candidate’s race, nationality, sexual orientation or gender identity to reflect diversity.

It was also recommended that a university-wide committee be formed to draft a “non-discrimination clause.” The proposal would also remove references to the diversity statement elsewhere in the handbook and change Appendix 3.G.2 to clarify hiring committee responsibilities in communicating the university’s mission and community.

The proposed change to Appendix 3.G.2 would strike a line stating hiring committees should be prepared to discuss “and to share resources related to the university’s mission” and replace the word “inclusion” with “community.”

During the April 9 Faculty Senate meeting, a first reading of the proposed changes was done.

Rep. Dawn Lindblade-Evans said the Faculty Senate Executive Board met the week before to discuss what other universities in Oklahoma have done to comply with the law. Northeastern State University still has a “diverse workforce” statement. Lindblade-Evans suggested using the University of Oklahoma’s nondiscrimination clause as a blueprint for a suitable replacement.

“Everyone else, it’s just been struck from there, so they haven’t replaced it yet,” Lindblade-Evans said. “So it looks like we’re not behind but it would be nice to get something done with it soon.”

Faculty Senate President Thomas Milligan said he and members of the Faculty Handbook Committee met with General Counsel Jill Van Egmond about the issue.

“She did express a commitment to forming a university-wide committee to craft a nondiscrimination hiring policy and to work with the Faculty Senate in determining the makeup of that,” Milligan said.

When Milligan opened the meeting for discussion, he said he did not support removing the DEI statement and found the proposed revisions difficult to write.

“But I know at the same time we have to comply with the government and the governor’s order,” Milligan said. The “governor’s order” refers to Senate Bill 796, which has been previously covered by The Indy in multiple articles.

Parliamentarian Tiffany Larson said that after she asked other faculty members their thoughts, she believes that the changes amounted to self-censorship.

The Faculty Handbook available on UCO’s website is the one that was created for the 2024-2025 school year and still contains the UCO Diversity Statement.

The proposed changes will now go to the Faculty Handbook/Academic Affairs committee before returning to the Faculty Senate for a vote. Milligan said the vote is expected to take place at the April 30 meeting.