• Oklahoma public colleges and universities spent more than $10 million on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives during the 2022-2023 academic year, according to documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
• The report was compiled to comply with a request from education secretary Ryan Walters, who asked for the total amount spent on DEI in the past decade.
• “It is important to note that there are certain laws that require diversity, equity and inclusion practices, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act,” Oklahoma State System of Higher Education chancellor Allison Garrett wrote in a letter to Walters, which was obtained by the DCNF.

Oklahoma public colleges and universities spent more than $10 million on initiatives to bolster Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in the past fiscal year, according to documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Ryan Walters, Oklahoma superintendent and education secretary, requested a report on Jan. 24 detailing how much money state higher education institutions spent on DEI programming in the past decade from Oklahoma State System of Higher Education chancellor Allison Garrett by Feb. 1, Tulsa World reported. The results determined that the system budgeted $10.2 million for the current fiscal year — $3.7 million of which came from state funds. (RELATED: Florida House Speaker Demands Information On Diversity, Equity And Inclusion ‘Prevalence’ On College Campuses)

The University of Oklahoma (UO) spent $1,279,302 of taxpayers money during the 2022-2023 academic year to fund its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) spent $274,763 from state funds to support its Office of Diversity & Inclusion staff’s salary and benefits.

Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC) spent $1,055 on an introductory workshop “to review core Safe Zone terminology used to define sexuality and sexual orientation,” $348 of which was state funds. Another workshop was titled “What is DEI?” and a third taught how to limit “bias” during an interview, both of which used state funding.

Northeastern State University used thousands of state-issued funds to offer courses which embed DEI into the curriculum including “Feminist and Social Activism” and “Intro to Women’s & Gender Studies.” Murray State College used state funding to support a Queer Straight Alliance club activities, and the funds bought several LGBTQ-themes merchandise and was used to host a “Safe Zone Training.”

“It is important to note that there are certain laws that require diversity, equity and inclusion practices, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act,” Garrett wrote in her response to Walters, which was obtained by the DCNF. “Additionally, Higher Learning Commission and program-specific accreditors — including those for nursing, engineering, education, and business degree programs — require institutions to demonstrate diversity, equity, and inclusion in their practices, policies and curriculum to maintain accreditation.”

The total amount spent on DEI programs came out to less than one third of 1% of the total budget, according to the documents. Oklahoma two-year community colleges spent approximately $4.8 million on DEI in the past year while research universities spent nearly $3.7 million and regional schools spent about $1.7 million.

The amount spent on DEI increased approximately $2.9 million since the 2013-2014 academic year with the amount of state funds used increasing by nearly $1.4 million, the documents show.

2023 02 01 DEI Expenditures by Alexa Schwerha on Scribd

Garrett also included a 152-page document, obtained by the DCNF which provided materials used for several conventions, speakers and events held at various Oklahoma universities in the past decade that falls under DEI.

Walters’ request mirrors a memo sent by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration to both the state college and university systems asking for the total amount of state funding used to support DEI and Critical Race Theory (CRT) on campus. The report initially revealed that approximately $15 million of taxpayer dollars were used to support such initiatives, however the administration alleges that universities “under-reported.”

“Undoubtedly, these bureaucracies are more interested in protecting their status quo and furthering their agenda rather than delivering a quality education to Florida’s students,” Bryan Griffin, DeSantis’ press secretary, wrote in an email sent to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Consequently, the Executive Office of the Governor is working to ensure that a full and truthful compilation of CRT- and DEI-related spending is gathered, and these efforts are ongoing.”

Walters told Tulsa World that he requested the budgeting data through his secretary role to boost “transparency.”

“As secretary of education, still in that cabinet role, Higher Ed sends me their budget that I look over (and sign off on) and they send me their strategic plan,” he reportedly said. “To see how much money is being spent on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, which we’ve got a lot of feedback around, a lot of concerns around, around these white privilege walks and around the shaming of one race or another or saying one race is superior or inferior to another.”

Walters and the universities did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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