The Auburn Advance

By Avery Welch | Nov. 3, 2024

Across the country, more than 85 bills target diversity, equity and inclusion funding, practices
and promotion at schools. Governors in Florida, North South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah,
Alabama, Idaho and Iowa have signed 10 bills into law.

Coverage of DEI at universities has appeared in the New York Times, Forbes, NBC News, ABC
News and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

“DEI is toxic and has no place in our public universities,” Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida posted
on X in March. “I’m glad that Florida was the first state to eliminate DEI, and I hope more states
follow suit.”

In early March 2024, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey wrote she and her administration valued “Alabama’s rich diversity,” but she wants to protect people on college campuses from “their
liberal political movement counter to what the majority of Alabamians believe.”

“We have already taken action to prevent this in our K-12 classrooms, and I am pleased to sign SB 129, to protect our college campuses,” Ivey wrote. “Supporting academic freedom, embracing diversity of cultures and backgrounds and treating people fairly are all key components of what we believe in Alabama, and I am more than confident that will continue.”

The Reality

On Monday, July 29, Auburn University announced that the Office of Inclusion and Diversity
would be dissolved by Aug. 15. University administration stated in an email sent to faculty, staff and students, that this action was being taken to remain in compliance with Alabama Act 2024-
34, or SB 129. The law, which went into effect on Oct. 1, prohibits all public institutions of
higher education from sponsoring any program or maintaining any office or department which
promotes DEI concepts.

Tommie Hollins, an African American Auburn junior, worked for the OID before it was dissolved. Hollins stated that the OID student employees did not hear anything from Auburn regarding their jobs over the summer.“We got the same email that everybody at Auburn's campus got. They communicated with [the
Student Government Association] and left out any student employees that worked for the OID. Out of anybody, you would think that we should be part of that conversation,” Hollins said.

Hollins said supervisors were advised not to talk to student workers about the matters. Communication from Auburn regarding SB 129 has been limited, leaving students in the dark with a lingering fear of what could happen for their organizations and their own stability moving forward.

Hollins is current vice president of The Harold A. Franklin Society, an organization honoring the
legacy of Harold A. Franklin, Auburn University’s first African American student in 1964. The
organization aims to foster community and support for underrepresented groups on Auburn's
campus. Their general meetings range from bonding activities, community-based activities such
as cookouts on the campus green spaces and, most recently, a voter information meeting.

“It's important because it allows underrepresented students to see themselves on Auburn's
campus. I know my experience. I came to Camp War Eagle, and I didn't see anybody that looked
like me,” Hollins said. “We serve the purpose of congregating everybody in one place so people
can see how much of an impact they have on campus instead of getting lost not being able to find
community.”

The U.S. Census Bureau said 26.6% of Alabama’s population is Black, but the percentage of
Black students has dwindled to just 5% of Auburn University’s student body.

In 2011, 268 Black students were first-time freshmen at Auburn, but in fall 2023, that number
fell to 157. In 2020, Black students made up 5.3% of the student population, but in fall 2023,
they made up 4.9%.

“For an average Auburn student, I don't know if they'll be affected as much by this bill. But for
minority students, I feel like it will be a deterrent for them to come to Auburn,” Hollins said.

A recent Asian American Auburn graduate, Minh Le, worked for the OID during his time at the
university. Amid the Tigers Excellence Program administered under the OID at the time, he was
able to root himself in a community venturing into college.

“Coming from a predominantly white institution for high school, I struggled with my identity,”
Le said. “And one of the biggest things that happened a lot my freshman year of college was
people assumed that I was an international student and that I didn't know English. A lot of people
would not talk to me.

“I struggled a lot, but having that program, you know, we all came from different backgrounds and were able to relate to one another,” Le said.

African American junior Ryan Jordan also found stability in the OID.

“They gave me an opportunity to work and helped me in a number of ways that go deeper than
community. One of my big goals coming to college was professional development. Through the
OID, I was able to connect with the Wallers family and help create the Melton Scholars
Program,” Jordan said.

Jordan worked for the OID before its closing, and when the bill passed in the spring, he feared
for his job stability. Going into the fall semester, Jordan was offered a newly created position
under Student Involvement that allowed him to continue his work of recruiting minority students.

Under the OID, Jordan’s sector worked in a suite in the Melton Student Center, where everybody
had their own office. Now, Jordan and his select peers work hidden in the basement of the Quad
Center, confined to a dark, moldy room.

Jordan’s sector is not the only one that has been shoved into a small, hidden room on campus.
Hollins now works under the Office of Provost, packed in a small back room in Foy Hall, with
only a 10-inch sliver of a window to look out of.

“I feel like there’s a different motive behind it,” Jordan said. “If they don’t see us based on the
numbers [of minority student enrollment], I’m not saying that they intentionally don't care. But if
that’s an agenda being pushed where they don't want you to be seen, then that's a different
thing.”