Western Kentucky University is ending gender-inclusive housing, among other changes, to comply with the state’s new anti-DEI law.
Non-academic Living Learning Communities (LLCs) will be shut down starting next school year, including one that accommodates LGBTQ+ students.
LLCs are designed to socially connect peers who have the same interests with a goal of helping them succeed academically. Among them is Stonewall LLC, which is for student "who strive to promote social integration and change for all gender identities, gender expressions and sexual orientations," according to its website. Stonewall LLC has provided gender neutral housing since 2016.
WKU President Timothy Caboni said the university is still working to align itself with House Bill 4, after the Republican legislature overrode Gov. Andy Beshear's veto of the measure in March. The controversial law prohibits diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in higher education.
“We’re going to follow state law, but more importantly, we’re going to take care of every one of our students. We remain committed to that," Caboni told WKU Public Radio. "It’s a little more difficult when you can’t subdivide them, which means we have to work harder as an institution.”
The University of Kentucky recently took similar action by ending gender-inclusive housing.
In another move to comply with HB 4, WKU recently said its PRIDE student organization could no longer meet at the Downing Student Union on campus, but found a work-around by opening the space as a meeting room for all members of the community.
"The PRIDE organization absolutely has the same access it had before to that space but so does the rest of the community," Caboni explained.
Specifically, the law bans public colleges and universities from having offices, policies, and practices designed to provide preferential treatment to individuals on the basis of religion, sex, color, or national origin.
WKU’s Society of Black Alumni announced last week that the organization will no longer be affiliated with the university’s Alumni Association.
According to an Instagram post by The Society of Black Alumni, it was given the option to either dissolve the organization or remove “black” from the organization’s name and mission if it wanted to remain supported by the university.
"Our mission is not up for negotiation," the post read.
The Society of Black Alumni has chosen to operate independently and is in the process of establishing itself as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Over the summer, WKU's General Counsel, Andrea Anderson, testified to an interim legislative committee about the steps the university has taken to comply with the law.
“They’re examining syllabi and sampling course content to ensure that alternate viewpoints are presented along with dominant perspectives, that course material reflects a broad range of ideological perspectives, and that assessments do not require adoption of specific viewpoints", Anderson told the Budget Review Subcommittee on Education.
Anderson also said references to DEI have been removed from the campus website and WKU no longer allows employees to attend DEI-specific conferences and trainings.
The WKU Board of Regents adopted a resolution in June affirming that the institution would comply with the anti-DEI law.
