The headline above was actually said by a Kentucky state senator, in the Senate chamber, as he spoke in favor of a bill limiting diversity initiatives in higher education.
Senate Bill 6, one of this session’s anti-DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) bills, passed the Senate Tuesday on a 26-7 party-line vote. The bill would limit colleges and universities from requiring students and faculty to “describe the attitude or actions in support of or in opposition to specific ideologies or beliefs.”
Sen. John Schickel is the person who uttered the above (in)famous line. He proceeded to use an emergency surgery as an instance where diversity shouldn’t matter. He didn’t explain how many emergency surgeries happen in college classrooms.
Another senator, Sen. Donald Douglas of Nicholasville, said that SB 6 wasn’t a “racial bill” and was not meant to be divisive. He, too, didn’t explain how a bill that attacks efforts to expand diversity, equity, and inclusion was neither racial nor divisive.
Interestingly, the same day that the Senate passed this bill, a poll was released showing that 71% of Kentucky voters believe that “businesses and institutions should make decisions about DEI education and programs without government interference.”
Perhaps the House will consider both that poll, and the message this bill sends, when they take it up.
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