On November 20, 2025, Darcie Little Badger, an Apache writer and invited keynote speaker for Weber State University’s annual Native Symposium, reported on social media that Weber State University had sent her a list of words and phrases that she could not use during her keynote speech.

Little Badger was scheduled to give a book talk about her co-edited volume, Beyond the Glittering World: An Anthology of Indigenous Feminisms and Futurisms. After she agreed to speak, Weber State sent Little Badger a document titled “Speaker Information Request.” Included in the document was a citation to Utah HB 261, which restricts programs and policies related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (see report), along with a list of words and concepts that speakers were prohibited from using in their presentations. The prohibited terms included: Diversity, equity, and inclusion; anti-racism; bias; critical race theory; implicit bias; oppression; intersectionality; prohibited discriminatory practices; racial privilege; and promoting stereotypes based on personal identity characteristics. Little Badger withdrew from the Symposium stating that she would “not censor concepts such as intersectionality and diversity,” and that being prohibited from speaking on those topics would entirely prevent her from speaking on the topic that she had been invited to address.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about a public university censoring academic expression and the resulting withdrawal of an invited speaker. State-ordered, university-enforced censorship is a direct violation of institutional autonomy and academic freedom. It undermines the university’s authority to set policies concerning personnel, admissions, content of research and teaching, and the establishment of academic or student-support programs. While government officers and elected officials have a right to express their opinions on higher education, including critical opinions, they must refrain from using the powers of their offices to exert undue or coercive pressures. While universities generally must follow applicable law and policies, they also have an affirmative obligation to challenge any such laws or policies, or to mitigate their harms, when such laws and policies violate core higher education values, including in this case equitable access, academic freedom, and autonomy.

Sources:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/academic-freedom/2025/12/10/facing-criticism-weber-state-says-it-will-be-more
https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-university-gave-guest-speakers-a-list-of-banned-words-was-it-just-complying-with-state-law
https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2025/12/09/weber-state-revise-anti-dei-policy/
https://bsky.app/profile/littlebadger.bsky.social/post/3m63shhebac22