"The purpose is to prohibit institutions of higher learning and community colleges from taking certain actions and engaging in discriminatory practices," state Senator Tyler McCaughn (R-Newton) told AFN.
The bill in question is known as the Requiring Efficiency For Our Colleges And Universities System (REFOCUS) Act or Senate Bill 2515.
"The Act seeks to ensure that employment academic opportunities and student engagement are based solely on individual merit qualifications and academic performance without the consideration of an individual's views on DEI," said McCaughn. "All that to say, at the end of the day, we are
aimed at going after a merit-based system as we have focused our efforts for the last five and six years on bringing our kids and our schools to a level where they are ready to meet the challenges of a college setting."
McCaughn is from Newton, which is in central Mississippi between Jackson and Meridian, both of which have institutions of higher learning.
Other co-sponsors include state Senator Nicole Boyd of Oxford, the northern Mississippi city where University of Mississippi is located.
DEI down but not out
Mississippi State Auditor Shad White has fought to lessen DEI practices, but some state universities had kept principles in place, Boyd found.
"Senator Boyd is the chair of our Universities and Colleges Committee, and she took this upon herself to begin the process, I want to say about 12 months ago," said McCaughn. "She started talking to our universities and found out that there was potential for some to still have some programs that did include DEI principles and practices, and since that time, the universities and colleges have all eliminated their offices of DEI, and it's important to keep the bill moving and to eventually get a product that says you can't practice in any sense DEI in the academic setting in our institutions of higher learning."
The bill has to survive a motion to reconsider. McCaughn anticipates that motion will be defeated and for this bill to move to the House side for consideration by their committees.
