University of Kansas

On June 29, 2023, KU issued a statement in response to the Supreme Court's ruling on affirmative action which reads as follows: "Because KU uses qualified admissions, the Supreme Court’s ruling likely will have minimal impact on most of our admissions processes. We are reviewing the decision and will work with campus units to make any necessary adjustments. We are writing today to reaffirm our commitment to cultivating a diverse community in which the dignity and rights of individuals are respected."

The School of Journalism and Mass Communications' Diversity Plan states that it would "[r]ecruit and retain students who belong to underrepresented groups that reflect demographics in the KU area."

The university will "charge leaders across campus to participate in training that will allow us to begin the work of facilitating intergroup dialogues that bring together representatives of agent groups and target groups to open up difficult conversations."

KU provides diversity and "safe zone" training through the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging. Additionally, it offers the "Unpacking Whiteness in the Workplace" training series.

The University of Kansas has a staff training on "Anti-Racism/ Anti-Bias Community of Practice" on Tuesday, June 20, 2023.

On May 19, 2022, the CEOP hosted a Data Equity Framework Webinar, where participants learned about the experiences and tools it takes to "overcome equity challenges in data."

On February 25, 2022, KU hosted a webinar titled "The Ethics of Antiracism" with Dr. Eddie Glaude, Chair of Princeton's Department of African American Studies. The goal was to learn to "commit oneself to deconstructing the idea of whiteness and the way in which it determines the distribution of advantage and disadvantage."

On October 7, 2021, the Self Graduate Fellowship hosted lecture “How To Be An Antiracist: A conversation with Ibram X. Kendi."

On September 30, 2022, KU hosted a webinar titled "CCEC: Trafficking Prevention Through an Anti-Racist, Anti-Oppressive Lens".

In the Spring and Summer of 2024, the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging provided trainings on "Reducing Bias, Preventing and Responding to Microaggressions."

The School of Journalism and Mass Communications' Diversity Plan states that it would "[r]eview syllabi annually to assess inclusion of DEIB statement and assignments" and "[hold] [a] workshop in Spring 2023 to show examples of incorporating DEIB in curricula." Additionally, the school would include "social justice in learning, teaching and mentoring activities."

The KU Diversity Leader resigned in Janurary 2022 following allegations of plagiarizing his MLK Day message.

The School of Journalism and Mass Communications' Diversity Plan states that it would "[r]equire all faculty search committee members to complete the training online for 'Diversity Foundations for Faculty Search Committees'....”

The university provided a resource site titled, "Strategies and Activities for Reducing Racial Prejudice and Racism," which encouraged students to "organize vigils, anti-racism demonstrations, protests, or rallies" and to "work to include anti-racism education in your school's curriculum."

KU has started a series of 10 new racial equity projects through the Racial Equity Research, Scholarship & Creative Activity Fund as of November 2021.

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Fund at KU "provides dedicated support for student organizations and events that promote diversity, intercultural education, and support for marginalized students" and has "$57 thousand to allocate during the 2023–24 academic year, provided by the Required Campus Fee."

The Office for Diversity in Science Training at KU "coordinates four University of Kansas / Haskell Indian Nations University minority student programs that are sponsored by grants from the National Institutes of Health, Institute of General Medical Sciences."

The School of Journalism and Mass Communications' Diversity Plan states that it would "[use] a $5,000 summer grant for SJMC collaborative research projects that explore DEIB matters and have a direct impact on improving DEIB in SJMC and beyond."

The university will convene leaders of local and campus police to "discuss policing strategies that reinforce respectful and community-engaged policing".

The university library has created a site called, "Social Justice Resources: Training & Teaching Resources," which includes "Black Lives Matter Teaching Resources" and the "Catalyst Project: Anti-Racism for Collective Liberation"

The library provides "Anti-Racist Books and Films." These include "White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide" and "So You Want to Talk About Race," among many others.

A group of researchers released its anti-racism plan: "Encouraging individuals, communities and institutions to acknowledge racism and intersectionality;Being transparent and accountable; Removing barriers to opportunities; Embracing and accommodating all members; Addressing racist and discriminatory history; Tackling colonial and parachute science (research typically conducted in low-income countries by international scientists and published without including local researchers)."

Despite denying allegations, KU does in fact teach CRT. One example is "C&T 541: Advanced Practices in Teaching Social Studies in Middle/Secondary Schools."

The Center for Educational Opportunity Programs (CEOP) Antiracism in Data Management initiative centers on antiracism as it relates to large social and educational datasets and antiracism education within CEOP, the Achievement & Assessment Institute, and programs across the University of Kansas.

KU has a Reading for Equity and Diversity (READ) program where students gather on a monthly basis to discuss how they might use a selected book to address current challenges and opportunities. The Office of DEIB offers Book Club Kits for departments and offices across the university to encourage participation.

KU has a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Annual Symposium that is co-sponsored by the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Office of International Programs. The 7th annual symposium was hosted from March 29-30th, 2023 and about "Access to Education, Health, and Advocacy for Indigenous People in Kansas and Missouri."

Between 2018-2023, KU's School of Social Welfare held an ongoing lecture titled "Understanding the Historical Context of Structural Racism and Current Day Implications." Speakers included Samantha Mellerson and Michael Finley from the Hayward Burns Institute.

KU's Diversity Student Leadership Conference took place on September 28, 2023, and was "open[ed] to students of color, first-generation, and other students with historically underrepresented identities." The conference "aims to provide student leaders with interactive and engaging leadership training that will provide a forum for exploring, understanding, and challenging thoughts and ideas about how we value differences in our school and our community."

On May 7, 2024, KU News published an article titled "Educational research should pinpoint anti-Black aggressions to build better policy, scholar argues" which reported that a "University of Kansas scholar has published an article that argues educational research should instead study anti-Black aggressions as scholars originally intended and use the approach to build more equitable policy at the individual and institutional levels."

A KU Policy Statement has been published to explain how the university is in compliance with Kansas House Bill 2105 (2024) which orders universities to make publicly available "all training materials used for students, faculty, and staff on all matters of non-discrimination, diversity, equity, inclusion, race, ethnicity, sex or bias." The policy also states however that the state requirement does "not apply to faculty curricular materials in university courses and shall not be construed to limit or restrict the academic freedom of faculty or to prevent faculty members from teaching, researching, or writing publications about diversity, equity, inclusion or other topics."

The university formed a "university-level advisory council for equity and inclusion" which will commit to "regular and continued outreach."

The university will ensure that "improving equity, diversity and inclusion is explicitly stated as a goal for each team in our COVID-19 Design Challenge and in the longer term, in all of our Jayhawks Rising strategic doing activities."

In February 2022, KU hosted "The Ethics of Antiracism" speaker event with Dr. Eddie Glaude. At the talk, he discussed "deconstructing the idea of whiteness" and the "moral reckoning" needed to combat racism.

The Racial Equity Research, Scholarship & Creative Activity Fund will also be providing equity workshops.

The History Department at KU announced its "solidarity" with the Black Lives Matter movement.

The media team at KU announced that a professor who wrote an essay titled “‘I Am Not Your Teaching Moment’: The Benevolent Gaslight and Epistemic Violence” were selected as one of two winners of the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC)’s 2023 Richard Braddock Award. The essay critiques "benevolent gaslight," which is defined as when a "white, ostensibly progressive individual perpetuates racist violence but then plays it off as a necessary teaching or learning moment in service of anti-racism or as an aid to their own enlightenment."

U's RISE: Realizing Intersectional Standards of Excellence is a "more progressive and contemporary interpretation of the widely used Inclusive Excellence framework, that attends to simultaneous and inseparable facets of identities." There are four priorities under this DEI framework: prioritizing recruitment and retention of marginalized students, staff, and faculty; developing intersectional education curriculum, research, and scholarship; improve campus climate and infrastructure; increase campus engagement and impact.

In October 2022, KU named Nicole Hodges Persley as the new vice provost for diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging after the former resigned from a plagiarism scandal.

Through the use of "inclusive language," KU's Information Technology Department states that it is "working to address historic inequities in our industry and creative [sic] a diverse. equitable and inclusive environment where everyone belongs."

As part of the School of Education and Human Sciences' commitment to "Impact & Belonging," the school is committed to "research on issues related to impact and belonging, and to train[ing] students to work with, teach, and serve individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences." The school also states, "We recognize that growing numbers of our community represent minoritized populations whose voices and perspective enrich our community."

The Department of Curriculum and Teaching (within the School of Education and Human Sciences) is committed to "Impact & Belonging" and states, "We know a diverse faculty, staff, student body, and academic programs that respect and are inclusive of the cultural backgrounds and experiences of students from historically marginalized populations, whether domestic or international, foster a more culturally vibrant and equitable community here at the University of Kansas."