Murray State University faculty members expressed concerns about proposed anti-DEI and anti-tenure bills during a listening session Tuesday afternoon.
In a listening session with Faculty Senate members on Tuesday, Feb. 27, even more questions were raised regarding how the University plans to navigate future accredited courses if Senate Bill 6 and House Bill 9 are passed.
The question pertained to Senate Bill 6 would essentially bar discussion of “divisive concepts”, which would essentially ban discussion of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in upper-level classrooms across Kentucky. If passed, the bill would also force course syllabi to be published publicly, which in turn would allow anyone to see if professors are violating the bill. breaking the rule of no discussion of DEI in classrooms.
“Since the law won’t be passed till after the course catalog is closed for next year, and part of the law is faculty having to put their book on the University website, it feels a bit like an entrapment, right,” asked Ray Horton, an associate professor of English. “What’s the University’s plan if that happens?”
Professors are worried about whether their courses will be effected next year, as course material for the next year is due before the bill would be passed.
“It’s challenging to address that directly as it is still early,” said David Roach, Faculty Senate president and mathematics professor. “Our administration does have that policy of not getting out in front. But I would say the discussion is centered around the support of academic freedom. We don’t feel an adversarial role.”
Michael Bordieri, secretary of the Faculty Senate, agreed. “We’ve had conversations with administrators about what that would be like. But it’s just too early to say.”
When he initially brought up the legislation, Bordieri said that the bills being proposed and voted on work against the mission that Murray State has of “serving underrepresented minorities and first generation college students.”
“This affects our ability to support our students and missions here on campus,” Bordieri said. “Part of our performance funding standards are based on these missions. When you think about the Pride Lounge on campus, and our programming to support students, that’s central to what we do.”
Mason Brighton, a reporter for Spectrum News 1, published an article about multiple groups standing against certain education bills, including SB 6 and House Bill 9. Brighton interviewed Lyndon Pryor, President and CEO of the Louisville Urban League.
“Diversity, equity and inclusion are not buzzwords or meaningless catchphrases,” Pryor said. “They are the building blocks of a prosperous and thriving community.”
However, Republican Senator and bill sponsor Mike Wilson believes that some classes are forcing students to learn on topics they don’t agree with, bringing in a teacher and a student to voice these issues to the Senate floor, according to a Louisville Public Media article.
“There is much that we can do to promote academic success for underrepresented minorities without promoting divisive academic theories,” Wilson said.
The other bill against DEI in classrooms, HB9, will ban “non-credit classes, seminars, workshops, trainings and orientations.”
While HB 9 still sits in the House awaiting a vote, SB6 was passed in the Senate on Tuesday, Feb. 13, and awaits a vote in the House.
There are many classes at Murray State University that would be affected, with Horton mentioning African-American Literature and Queer Literature being two topics that would be impacted, as well as the General Education Studies minor.
If the bills pass, Murray State will see a lot of change on campus, in classrooms, in the Pride Lounge, and elsewhere. There’s only so much time before the state finds out how much change will have to occur at all colleges and universities.
