On March 4, 2025, Wyoming’s governor signed into law a bill that restricts classroom instruction at the state’s higher education institutions by barring governmental entities from engaging in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
The new law, House Bill 147 (HB 147)/ House Enrolled Act 67 (HEA 67), prohibits the University of Wyoming and the state’s community colleges from engaging in activity or policy “that promotes differential or preferential treatment of individuals or classifies individuals” based on race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin. The law also prohibits Wyoming’s state higher education system from requiring: students, university staff, and other state employees to attend DEI programs or training; instruction suggesting “that meritocracy or certain traits including a hard work ethic are racist or sexist;” instruction that assigns blame “to members of a race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity or national origin.”
Public institutions must comply with the law by July 1, 2024.
The law fits into a pattern of legislatures undermining university autonomy to target DEI programs. At least 127 anti-DEI bills have been introduced across 29 states since 2023, with at least 15 becoming law. The Wyoming law, as most of the others, use broad language and undefined terms that conflate discriminatory activity, which is already prohibited under Titles VI and IX among other provisions, and nondiscriminatory research, teaching, or discussion of important and contested political, social, cultural, and economic issues concerning race, gender and sexuality, among other topics. State prohibitions on discriminatory conduct are permissible, while state restrictions on discourse about discrimination undermine autonomy, academic freedom, and free expression.
Scholars at Risk is concerned about ideologically driven, government encroachments on universities’ authority to set policies concerning personnel, admissions, curricula, and the establishment of particular programs. Such actions undermine university autonomy and inhibit institutions’ ability to function freely, undermining academic freedom and democratic society generally. Moreover, actions targeting diversity and social justice efforts may also erode core university values including social responsibility and equitable access.
Sources:
https://legiscan.com/WY/text/HB0147/id/3151208
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/03/17/wyoming-governor-signs-anti-dei-law-restricting-curriculum
https://pen.org/press-release/newly-signed-wyoming-law-will-take-a-battering-ram-to-public-education-and-government-services/