Would college sports be impacted by a Texas Senate proposal to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education?
Some Democratic senators argued that the NCAA could ban the state’s beloved college athletic programs from participating in its games if Texas moved forward with attempts to do away with DEI efforts.
The Senate voted 19-12, along party lines, to pass a bill on Wednesday that would prohibit public universities and colleges from having DEI offices; using race or ethnicity in hiring; requiring job applicants to make diversity statements; or mandating any training related to race, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation.
During the Senate debate, Sens. Royce West, Borris Miles and José Menéndez stated they’re concerned that, if the bill becomes law, Texas universities will fail to comply with NCAA eligibility requirements.
The NCAA constitution states that universities are required to provide “education and training with respect to the creation of [diverse and inclusive] environments.”
West, D-Dallas, asked the bill’s author, Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, whether voluntary training would be allowed under the bill. Creighton said “the bill specifically restricts against mandatory training. As long as there is no mandatory training, then you’re in compliance with the bill.”
In 2020, the NCAA created a new requirement for member institutions: every college or university has to appoint an “athletics diversity and inclusion designee,” a full-time staff member designated by the chancellor or president.
The Senate bill would eliminate DEI staff positions.
West noted that the NCAA requires universities to complete a DEI review every 5 years. This requirement is part of the organization’s “conditions and obligations of membership.”
“An institution that fails to complete the required equity, diversity and inclusion review by the established deadline shall be fined $500,” the NCAA’s “roles and responsibilities” document reads. “If the requirement is not satisfied within one year of the established deadline, the institution shall be placed in restricted membership status.”
The NCAA did not return a message seeking comment on whether the legislation would put Texas teams at risk.
Creighton’s office maintains that the NCAA requirement for universities to conduct equity, diversity and inclusion reviews are broad enough that state colleges can comply under his bill.
The $500 fines would have little impact on the premier athletics programs, which can have revenue and budgets in the tens of millions of dollars. But several NCAA diversity experts questioned whether the organization would consider taking action against Texas schools.
Helen A. “Nellie” Drew, a professor at SUNY Buffalo’s School of Law, said a university entering “restricted status” could have far reaching implications.
Schools can get on the status by failing to act on notices of non-compliance to its regulations or major infractions to NCAA rules.
“That’s a whole lot more nasty,” she said.
It could mean facing the loss of eligibility, said Drew, who is also the director of the Center for the Advancement of Sport at Buffalo.
“You’re given one to three years to comply with your issue and if you don’t comply, then they can kick you out,” she said.
Punitive actions against Texas?
The NCAA flinched first in a standoff with the state of California after its lawmakers allowed student athletes to profit off name, image and likeness rights in 2019.
Then-NCAA president Mark Emmert said he would bar California schools from athletic events. Two years later, Emmert and the NCAA adopted policies allowing for such rights.
NCAA diversity and rules experts said Texas college football is probably safe for now because the organization is in a weakened posture and would not go so far as to remove the state’s highly lucrative, premier athletic programs from its ranks.
B. David Ridpath, professor of sports business at Ohio University, said the NCAA could take punitive actions against Texas, but not by banning schools.
“There may be a possibility of there being some type of … measure from the NCAA that would say, if states do this, then maybe they would not be able to hold NCAA championships,” Ridpath said.
For example, the NCAA banned championship events from being held in North Carolina after lawmakers there approved a “bathroom bill” that placed restrictions on which restrooms transgender people could use. The pressure led to the bill’s repeal in 2017, and the NCAA lifted its sanctions.
The organization also had been at the forefront of attacking states that flew the Confederate battle flag, including a 15-year ban on South Carolina holding NCAA championships and pushing lawmakers in Mississippi to remove the battle flag from its state flag in 2020.
Despite concerns about the state’s transgender and abortion legislation, Texas recently hosted both men’s and women’s basketball Final Four championships in Houston and Dallas, respectively.
Those events can generate hundreds of millions of dollars in economic impact to host cities.
But with its leadership in transition, and super-conferences possibly emerging as powerhouses in college athletics, the NCAA’s political power via college sports has diminished, some experts say.
“They’re not exactly the juggernaut they once were,” Drew said.
Student impact
Recruiting athletes might be negatively impacted especially in the context of race.
In Division I sports, Black athletes made up 55% of all men’s basketball teams and 48% of football teams in 2022, according to demographic data from the NCAA.
Billy Hawkins, a University of Houston professor with a specialty in race in athletics, said parents and athletes have conversations about the politics of states where they might be considering sending their children.
“You have to think as a parent, would you want your son or daughter to compete in a state that’s trying to take the state back 200 or 300 years instead of progressively moving it toward the 21st century?” Hawkins said.
Those conversations also won’t just be happening between parents and their student athletes, but with competing coaches and recruiters, too, said Victoria Jackson, a sports historian and professor at Arizona State University.
“If I want to increase my chances, I might mention that there’s been this effort in the Texas Legislature to tear down these programs that are intended to serve you,” Jackson said.
However, the bill’s author, Creighton, believes his bill will increase “true diversity” in Texas. During Wednesday’s debate, he said DEI programs are exclusive, ineffective, and politically charged.
“Texas universities are spending millions on these [programs] even though a nationwide study found that bringing in a chief diversity officer… has had no effect on minority-based hiring,” Creighton said.
Creighton said his bill affirms the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
“Hiring should always be color-blind and gender-neutral,” he said.
Miles, D-Houston, noted that the 1964 Civil Rights Act was needed because “it has not been color-blind, and it has not been equal.”
He added, “There’s no logic in the belief that you can increase diversity by removing policies and offices that work to promote diversity.”
Since Gov. Greg Abbott’s office told public agencies in Texas that DEI is illegal, the Texas A&M University System banned diversity statements as a requirement from job applicants and the University of Texas System announced a pause on new DEI policies.
This year alone, 19 other states have introduced bills aimed at dismantling DEI. Only one bill in Kansas has received full legislative approval.
In Texas, the bill is now headed to the House for further debate.
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