On April 4, 2025, Idaho’s governor signed into law a bill banning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programming at the state’s public higher education institutions. The law uses vague and undefined terms that conflate discriminatory activity, which is already prohibited by law, with nondiscriminatory research, teaching, or discussion of contested topics.
Idaho Senate Bill 1198 bans DEI offices at the state’s public colleges and universities and bars those institutions from engaging in DEI-informed practices in admissions, hiring, training, and bias reporting systems. It also prevents public higher education institutions from establishing course requirements aligned with DEI principles, defined as those which are “derived from or that promotes the tenets or concepts of critical theory,” such as unconscious or implicit bias, microaggression, internalized racism, group marginalization, systemic oppression, social justice, intersectionality, transgender ideology, among others. Higher education institutions will be required to report annually on their compliance to the Idaho’s attorney general and state legislature.
The law fits into a pattern of legislatures undermining university autonomy. At least 129 anti-DEI bills have been introduced across 29 states since 2023, with at least 19 becoming law. The Idaho 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 what topics or ideas may or may not be discussed on university campuses undermine autonomy, academic freedom, and free expression.
Scholars at Risk is concerned about 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. Actions targeting discourse or programming aimed at encouraging broad and successful participation in higher education by persons from a wide array of personal, economic, and social backgrounds erode core university values, including social responsibility and equitable access.
Sources:
https://pen.org/wait-what-just-happened-in-idaho-a-wake-up-call-for-higher-ed/
https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/boise-state-assesses-idaho-law-banning-campus-dei-programs-college/277-cd3d1f94-e50d-483f-bc87-9fb03245379f
https://www.kmvt.com/2025/04/02/idaho-senate-passes-bill-targeting-dei-higher-education/
https://www.thecollegefix.com/new-idaho-law-bans-bias-response-teams-dei-offices-forced-diversity-trainings-in-higher-ed/
https://legislature.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/sessioninfo/2025/legislation/S1198.pdf