Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed senate bill 17 targeting removal of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices and programs in higher education following extensive Senate and House deliberations.
LEWISVILLE, Texas - Starting January 2024, Texas campuses are required to eliminate DEI offices, mandatory DEI statements, and training. Senate Bill 17, authored by state Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, prohibits diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs at public universities in Texas, effective since January 1.
The legislation primarily targets diversity programs tailored for specific racial or gender groups, with little emphasis during Capitol debates on the impact on scholarships.
Former Lewisville High School women's basketball player Aubree Butts tragically passed away on the night of June 3, 2014, in a two-car collision involving a semi-truck on Loop 286.
At the time of the accident, Butts and several teammates from the Texas A&M Commerce basketball team were heading to a summer league game. The crash claimed the lives of both Butts and Rowlett High School alumna Devin Oliver.
Now, due to a new state law, the Devin Oliver and Aubree Butts Memorial Scholarship, alongside 130 others statewide, are currently frozen or undergoing changes at public universities, as revealed by documents obtained through open records requests by ABC NEWS 8.
Notably, these adjustments affect 80 scholarships at Texas A&M University, 45 at University of Texas-affiliated campuses, and six at other public universities.
Republican lawmakers justified this move as an effort to level what they saw as an "unequal playing field."
However, prioritizing certain students, particularly those who are white or already privileged, in scholarship opportunities only widens the gap for others striving to succeed. This perpetuates an unfair system where not everyone has an equal chance to pursue higher education.
It is imperative to reform these practices to ensure that every individual, regardless of their background or financial status, has an equal opportunity to access and thrive in higher education.
Richard Oliver, father of Devin Oliver, expressed to The Dallas Morning News, "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."
Today, a Black female athlete seeking higher education would no longer have financial access to the scholarship that Devin Oliver had over a decade ago. This leaves us questioning whether we are moving forward or backward as a society.