The academic futures of diverse students are in jeopardy as the Texas DEI ban puts 131 scholarships on hold.
The Memorial Scholarship was created to help Black female athletes pursue sports while in college. The scholarship honors the short-lived lives of Devin Oliver and her classmate Aubree Butts. The young women were basketball players at Texas A&M University at Commerce killed in a car crash. The scholarship honors their lives and legacy. The Memorial Scholarship was created to empower the next generation of women athletes. However, the scholarship may soon cease to exist.
Oliver’s father, Richard, wanted the scholarship to help girls just like his daughter.
“I appreciated the fact that that scholarship was targeted specifically for that demographic type — Black female athlete, and particularly basketball — because that’s who my daughter was,” Oliver told The Dallas Morning News.
The Texas DEI ban leaves multiple scholarships in limbo, with the majority designated for Texas A&M. The scholarships are being frozen or modified to fit the new law, Senate Bill 17. Since going into effect on Jan. 1, the ban has halted all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs across public universities in Texas.
While the law remains vague, with its main focus on initiatives on campus, it has impacted scholarships upon its passing. The bill’s author, State Sen. Brandon Creighton, released a statement on the “real progress” made for higher education in Texas.
“Since implementation of SB 17, Texas colleges and universities have made real progress to return their institutions to the mission of innovation and education and throughout the process, many institutions are eliminating inefficiencies and redundant expenditures — which could include programs or scholarships that have been eliminated or changed…The law makes clear that taxpayer funds should not be spent conferring special benefits based on race, color, or ethnicity,” the Republican lawmaker wrote.
The legislation follows a trend of anti-DEI efforts across the country. States like Florida and North Carolina have also passed laws and policies that either roll back or eliminate DEI programs. As Texas students continue to feel the effects of this ban, students nationwide are also seeing the crackdown on initiatives that uplift diversity in education.
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