University of Texas at Austin (UT) announced that they are canceling cultural graduations due to the Lone Star State’s recent law banning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices.

UT sent an email last week saying that they will cease funding cultural graduation ceremonies, according to the Daily Texan.

Senate Bill 17, which went into effect this month, affects DEI offices and programs at public colleges and universities across the state.

Their decision came after the university’s Multicultural Engagement Center (MEC) was closed in compliance with the state’s law shutting down DEI offices. The closure of the Multicultural Engagement Center impacted their Black Graduation, Latinx Graduation, and GraduAsian ceremonies.

Crenshaw’s bill aims to ban universities from compelling students, staff, or applicants to “endorse an ideology that promotes the differential treatment of an individual or group of individuals based on race, color, or ethnicity.”

Across the country, 40 bills have been introduced in 22 states aimed at limiting DEI initiatives as of July 2023, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

Joshua Q. Nelson is a reporter for Fox News Digital.

Joshua focuses on politics, education policy ranging from the local to the federal level, and the parental uprising in education.

Joining Fox News Digital in 2019, he previously graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in Political Science and is an alum of the National Journalism Center and the Heritage Foundation’s Young Leaders Program. 

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