By Emma Murphy, Oklahoma Voice
OKLAHOMA CITY — House lawmakers voted Wednesday to advance legislation that would limit who can accredit Oklahoma’s colleges and universities based on their past diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
House Bill 3132 would require Oklahoma’s colleges and universities to avoid using accrediting agencies that have employed DEI policies as part of the accreditation process in the last five years unless otherwise impossible.
Rep. Kevin West, R-Moore, who authored the bill, said accrediting agencies are the “gatekeepers” of colleges and universities and determine accreditation status which affects federal funding, student aid eligibility and institutional stability.
“This bill ensures Oklahoma institutions will seek to find accrediting agencies that focus on academic quality and institutional performance, not enforcing diversity, equity and inclusion mandates,” he said.
If no accrediting agencies meet the anti-DEI requirements of the bill, higher education officials must report this to the House Speaker and Senate President Pro Tem as well as conduct an annual review for a qualified accreditor.
Rep. John Waldron, D-Tulsa, who voted against the bill, said many accrediting agencies are shifting their policies away from DEI practices.
“This bill would add an unnecessary level of government oversight to target a way of thinking we might not like,” he said while debating against the bill. “It interferes with a working market of accreditation agencies with higher education.”
Rep. Dick Lowe, R-Amber, who voted in favor of the bill, said higher education officials had reached out to him with concerns that the accrediting agencies that match the requirements of this bill aren’t considered “quality accreditors.”
“The problem we have is there’s not 10 accrediting groups sitting on the corner, and the ones that are available that maybe would fit this are not considered quality accreditations across the nations,” he said.
The bill passed the House Education Oversight Committee with a 7-2 vote along party lines and is now eligible to be heard on the House floor.
