The Republican-dominated Kentucky General Assembly is racing to pass an anti–diversity, equity and inclusion bill that has additional academic freedom implications. House Bill 4 would ban what it defines as DEI offices, employees and training in public colleges and universities, as well as the use of affirmative action in hiring and deciding scholarships and vendor selection.

It also seeks to limit curricula. While HB 4 says it doesn’t impact instruction, course content or academic freedom, it does prohibit higher education institutions from requiring courses whose “primary purpose is to indoctrinate participants with a discriminatory concept.”

The bill generally defines a “discriminatory concept” as one that “justifies or promotes differential treatment or benefits” for people based on “religion, race, sex, color or national origin.” It broadly characterizes DEI as promoting a discriminatory concept. And it defines “indoctrinate” as imbuing or attempting to “imbue another individual with an opinion, point of view or principle without consideration of any alternative.”

HB 4 also says the Council on Postsecondary Education, which oversees the state’s public institutions, can’t approve new degrees or certificates that require courses or trainings primarily intended to “indoctrinate” with discriminatory concepts. And it encourages the council to eliminate current academic programs that contain such requirements.

Mark Criley, a senior program officer in the American Association of University Professors’ Department of Academic Freedom, Tenure and Governance, said the bill “effectively puts the power of the state behind an effort to drive different ideas underground.” He added that the bill’s definition of indoctrination “can be quite fuzzy.”

“The AAUP also rejects indoctrination, which we understand to mean treating contestable truths as uncontestable and preventing students from exposure to alternative views,” he said. “But this bill effectively does precisely that by preventing courses from considering or justifying or promoting different perspectives.”

HB 4 is evidence of Republican-controlled state legislatures pushing anti-DEI bills even as the Trump administration targets DEI in higher education nationally. And it’s another example of an anti-DEI bill that—beyond targeting the administrative offices and positions often associated with that term—could impact classroom teaching itself.

“In addition to the concerns that we have in general about the elimination of DEI offices and the prevention of those kinds of policies—especially coming from a Legislature—I think the particular issue that connects to our concerns is the intrusion on academic freedom,” Criley said.

On a Deadline

HB 4 hadn’t passed a single legislative committee until a week ago. Now, it’s on the brink of passing the state Senate and heading to Kentucky governor Andy Beshear’s desk.

Beshear might be a reason for the lawmakers’ haste: He’s a Democrat. If Republicans don’t pass the bill by Friday, they will only have two days left in this year’s legislative session—not enough time to override Beshear’s possible veto. His office didn’t respond to Inside Higher Ed’s request Tuesday for his stance on the legislation.

A spokesperson for the Kentucky Senate majority said HB 4’s rate of progress through the Legislature “is not unique to House Bill 4” and “this is the way the legislative process works.”

The bill was introduced in the House a month ago. But it remained largely immobile in the legislative process. Near the end of last month, the House took it out of the committee it was assigned to, Postsecondary Education, and gave it a first reading—a maneuver that would allow it to move faster toward passage if it made it out of committee.

On March 4, the Postsecondary Education Committee finally took it up in an hourlong meeting that devolved into controversy.

The bill’s lead sponsor, Republican representative Jennifer Decker, told the committee that HB 4 “would ensure that our postsecondary system in Kentucky is held accountable to dismantle the failed and misguided DEI bureaucracies that have made our colleges more divided, more expensive and less tolerant.” She said, “This bill solely ends unconstitutional discrimination based on race, sex, national origin and religion” and that “historically America has strived for equal opportunity, not subjective equity, which DEI now pursues through discriminatory admissions, hiring and scholarships.”

Much of the hour was taken up by Democratic representatives questioning Decker and the other pro–HB 4 presenters. Committee chairman James Tipton, a Republican, allowed a few opponents in the audience to speak near the end of the meeting. Micah Lynn, a University of Kentucky graduate student and teaching assistant, told the committee he researches racial violence and teaches introductory American history.

“I’m concerned about the chilling effect that’s going to be had on other educators and myself discussing race in the classroom,” Lynn said.

The committee ended the meeting by passing the bill on a party-line vote. The Kentucky Lantern captured videos of the aftermath, where an opponent argued with the lawmakers in the committee room and Tipton asked state police to clear the room. Bill opponents also argued with Tipton in the hallway.

Controversy continued on the House floor the next day, when one lawmaker alleged that, during the debate, a lobbyist had been texting Decker answers to questions other lawmakers were asking about the bill, violating House regulations. The Republican House speaker ruled this point of order “not valid.” Decker didn’t respond to Inside Higher Ed’s requests for comment Tuesday.

The House passed the bill 81 to 18 that same day, and on Monday the Senate Education Committee passed it, sending it to the full Senate floor. On Tuesday, James Orlick—a University of Louisville Ph.D. student who said the bill threatens his job in grant writing and innovation for inclusive excellence at the institution—filed an open-meetings complaint with Tipton, alleging that his committee improperly passed a title amendment to the bill after the committee had already adjourned.

“This is really outrageous what happened, what they’re doing—just not allowing people to talk and then ram this bill through,” Orlick said. “They do not want any kind of public opposition.”

“These people are just so dishonest,” he said.

Orlick also noted that the bill includes exceptions to continue providing special benefits to veterans, first-generation students and others. Lawmakers are saying, “We’re fine with these groups, but we’re not fine with these groups,” he said.

Amid the Trump administration’s anti-DEI crusade, Criley, the AAUP official, said anti-DEI bills have to be fought “at every level.” That includes continuing the fight in the states.

“Battles for the freedom to learn and for the broader education of our students have to be fought wherever the need appears,” Criley said.