AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Hours after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action admissions for private and public universities Thursday, a Texas representative filed legislation to codify it.
State Rep. Carl Tepper, R-Lubbock, filed House Bill 54 to prohibit public universities and colleges from adopting affirmative action policies. Only one school, University of Texas-Austin, uses affirmative action.
Tepper admits, his proposal’s chances are “not strong,” considering lawmakers just commenced a second special session with only one call on the agenda: property tax relief.
“You never know, it might inspire somebody to add to add it to the call,” he said. “We want people to not have an advantage or disadvantage of their race going into the future and giving them the privileges of higher education or a job,” he said.
In Texas, only the governor has the power of setting the agenda for special sessions. Gov. Greg Abbott has vowed to eventually call legislators back for a special session focused on getting a school voucher system passed, but has not mentioned anything related to higher education.
Tepper’s bill would not apply to private colleges and universities in Texas, but the Supreme Court’s ruling does apply to non-public higher education institutions.
In a statement, UT-Austin said with affirmative action, “the University has lawfully been considering race among many factors as part of its comprehensive and holistic admissions process.” In response to Thursday’s ruling, the university said it will make “the necessary adjustments to comply with the most recent changes to the law and remains committed to offering an exceptional education to students from all backgrounds and preparing our students to succeed and change the world.”
Connie Porter — a diversity, equity and inclusion officer at Rice University — called the court’s ruling “disappointing,” but said her private school will look toward creative ways in still meeting its diversity goals.
“Nothing’s changed in terms of our objective. We know that diversity among our faculty, staff and students, yields a more productive environment, it yields an environment that is more creative,” she said. “We’ll still find a way to do that. I think it challenges us in terms of making sure that we’re consistent about how we do that.”