More than a third of the employees who were working in the University of Utah’s central diversity, equity and inclusion offices left their positions after the state’s new anti-DEI law passed.
That number provides, for the first time, an accounting of how the law has contributed to staff attrition at the state’s flagship school.
It comes from a spreadsheet compiled by the U.’s chief human resources officer, Jeff Herring, and tracks changes to job titles as well as which offices that staff were reassigned to after HB261 was signed into law by Gov. Spencer Cox. The Salt Lake Tribune obtained a copy through a public records request.
The document accounts for 44 staff members total — not identified by name — who had been working in positions that previously reported to the now defunct Division of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at the U. That included, for instance, the Black Cultural Center that is also no longer operating on campus.
The law dismantled those divisions, offices and centers, requiring that the eight public colleges and universities in the state eliminate any efforts that provided resources to specific student populations based on identity, such as race or gender.
Schools were instructed instead to open generic “student success” centers that supported all students, with no deference to individual backgrounds. And the words “diversity,” “equity” and “inclusion” were banned from office and position titles.
The U., accordingly, shut down its Division of Equity. And the employees that had previously been in those 44 DEI-specific positions, including administration and support staff, Herring said, were all shifted to other positions in areas across campus, largely in comparable student-support roles now under the Office of Student Affairs.
No employees were fired, which the law did not call for — instead shifting funding for DEI to those new student-success offices.
“While some of these employees’ job titles and areas of work focus may have changed, they still are able to work to support all students’ success and advance the mission of the university in different areas,” Herring said.
Of those staff members, 28 accepted their reassignments. The other 16, or 36%, did not. They either quit or retired, according to a university spokesperson, in the fallout of the new law.
University of Utah DEI spreadsheet by Courtney on Scribd
That includes Mary Ann Villareal, who had been the U.’s inaugural vice president for equity, diversity and inclusion and oversaw the full division. She had originally been given a new job title but remained on the president’s cabinet.
But on July 15 — a few weeks after the U. started closing student equity centers — U. President Taylor Randall issued a brief statement that Villareal was leaving the school for a new position. She is now vice president at the American Association of Colleges and Universities.
Meligha Garfield, who was also the inaugural director of the Black Cultural Center on campus, left, as well. Garfield is now the director of Black culture, innovation and technology at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
He was one of three staffers from the Black Cultural Center to be reassigned; the other two have remained at the university.
The data from the spreadsheet is limited and does not give a full picture of all attrition. For instance, it’s possible some of the employees left for reasons unrelated to the new law.
And there are offices and centers not captured by the document.
Herring was only tasked with tracking staff who were housed under the Division of Equity. But the U.’s Women’s Resource Center and the LGBT Resource Center, which were both closed in response to the new law, were not included in the numbers because they had separate reporting structures through the Office of Student Affairs.
Those staff members were also reassigned but not formally tracked.
There is also not a broader list for staff across the university either, said school spokesperson Rebecca Walsh.
That would include positions within departments on campus for employees who were focused on equity or diversity efforts, such as a librarian assigned to increase inclusivity with literature selection or an event planner for cultural gatherings. Erika George, previously the director for the Tanner Humanities Center, is one example.
She was a professor of law at the U., too, and an expert and frequent speaker on diversity and gender equality. Last year, after HB261 passed, she left the U. to be the associate dean for equity, justice and engagement at Boston University.
“We know that several of our EDI staff and leaders have left the university for career opportunities in other states,” Herring said. “Many more have stayed and continue to work in their new positions to support student success, advance cutting-edge research and provide world class health care.”
Of the eight public schools in the state, the U. was previously spending the most on DEI-division administration at a little over $1 million annually.
Note to readers • This story is available to Salt Lake Tribune subscribers only. Thank you for supporting local journalism.
