Over the summer, the Kentucky legislature’s decisions regarding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion raised questions and concerns from students on the University of Kentucky’s campus. 

The university disbanded DEI in August of this year. UK’s Office of DEI was responsible for many behind-the-scenes events and functions, including scholarships, student organizations and a “home,” according to students. Without DEI initiatives in place, some students said they expect fewer applicants from complex backgrounds at UK.

Student Perspectives & Scholarship Impacts

Junior Alessandra Lozano, a computer engineering major with a minor in mathematics, received the William C. Parker Diversity Scholarship from UK. Lozano is originally from Mexico.

With the recent developments in the state of Kentucky and at UK regarding DEI, this scholarship has been renamed the William C. Parker Belonging Scholarship. 

“It really lets you put your best foot forward and show that my history is a part of me,” she said. “To say that DEI is just causing more divide than it is unity, I think that’s misleading and not looking at every aspect.”

Lozano said when she was applying to schools and received this scholarship from UK, it held significant weight in her decision to come to UK. 

“When I applied to schools, I had academic scholarships… but none that covered housing,” Lozano said. “With William C. Parker, I was like ‘Oh, okay, I can live here and afford to actually do something with it…’ It was probably the deciding factor.”

Lozano applied to several other schools, including Ivy Leagues, but none offered her enough to cover housing. The scholarship UK awarded her also covered her meal plan. 

When Lozano attended John Hardin High School in Kentucky, a predominantly white school, as a non-white student, representatives from UK came and set up a table to inform minority and first-generation students about the opportunities available to them at UK. 

The biggest impact that the DEI programs had on Lozano was during COVID-19 when she was trying to navigate applying to colleges by herself. With her mom attending college in Mexico and her dad not attending college, she said she had no idea how to apply to schools. 

“A lot of programs here like the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), or the Latino Student Union that did speak at John Hardin, I was able to kind of figure out what to do when they gave me tips on how to do it,” she said. “They always emphasize their diversity and inclusion. I thought that was so important, especially in Kentucky, you don’t see that very often.”

Lozano said it was more than just the monetary reward from the scholarship that aided her throughout her college career. 

“The opportunities I’ve had within that scholarship, I’ve gotten to meet so many people,” she said. “I worked in Silicon Valley, California, which is such a huge feat for me, and it was through people that I met because of that scholarship.” 

Lozano said that if she had gone to another school with no DEI program, she feels she wouldn’t have had the networking opportunities she received through UK’s DEI program. 

Lozano said she was disappointed to see that DEI is not considered “necessary” or “enough of a problem to do something about it.”

“It feels more like there’s no proof that it wasn’t working,” she said. “What’s the point of getting rid of it completely?”

Lozano said that when UK President Eli Capilouto sent out the email announcing his plan with DEI, her first thought was about her scholarship. 

She said those around her with DEI scholarships were also fearful of what was going to happen, with rumors making their way around campus and questions being asked about what would happen next. 

“The advisors have been helpful, but they only know almost as much as I did,” Lozano said. “I had to reach out for information.”

Lozano said the wording in the email to the student body “rubbed her the wrong way.” 

“I don’t remember exactly what he said in his email, but it was something about it really scares him, that divide that he sees DEI giving people,” she said. “What’s wrong with saying we’re different and it’s okay to be different?”

Lozano said that she feels UK will see a regression in students from non-complex backgrounds. 

“Those people with complex backgrounds are going to go to schools that cater to them,” Lozano said. “I see it as losing a lot of culture that we do have at UK.”

Lozano said she has found opportunities to explore her culture at UK through SHPE by having cookouts and people from different South American countries come and prepare food for them. 

“I think that’s part of the magic of going to college, experiencing all these other things in the world that you haven’t been able to see,” she said. “I think because of that, taking away DEI programs and initiatives, you’re gonna lose that culture, you’re gonna lose that sense of community.” 

Lozano said repeatedly that she found the DEI disbandment “disappointing.”

“We are stronger, the more different we are, the more capabilities we have,” Lozano said.

Sophomore Jose Villanos, who is studying agriculture and medical biotechnology, attends UK through the William C. Parker scholarship. Without the scholarship, Villanos said he would not have been able to attend UK.

“I wasn’t about to go into debt, and stuff like that, when I had offers from other universities as well,” Villanos said. “Even though I still believe UK is the best university in the state, especially with the area that I want to study, it would have been hard for me not to go here, but in terms of money, that’s what’s really important I guess.”

Sophomore Grace Yi, who has a dual degree in history and sociology, does not have a scholarship through DEI, but is creating an initiative on campus called Students for DEI. 

Yi described the initiative as “an organization of students who are concerned about the removal of DEI.” She started the organization on the night of Campus Ruckus, Aug. 22, 2024. 

“We are currently oriented towards achieving transparency about what has happened because there are really not a lot of updates,” Yi said. “We’re all stuck in separate situations because no one really knows for sure how this is going to impact us.”

Yi had coordinated an interview with Student Government Association President Maddie Duff, the Vice President of Student Success Kirsten Turner and the Dean of Students Dr. Trisha Clement-Montgomery to discuss the DEI decision. 

“Hopefully we’ll achieve transparency about just what this means for UK, for funding diversity programs, for scholarships, for students of color and minority students,” Yi said. 

Yi said that after the meeting, she hoped to focus more on publicity and a decided course of action for her initiative. 

After the meeting, Yi said the university seemed “pretty set on this decision, including not mandating diversity training anymore…It seems as though everybody’s hands are tied from legislature.”

Northern Kentucky University has also decided to disband DEI at their school, making two Kentucky schools now without DEI, according to the Northener, NKU’s student publication. 

“In reality, it’s a nationwide movement of getting rid of DEI,” Villanos said. “Conservative industries that have a conservative consumer base are getting rid of their DEI, so it’s like a small wave that’s happening.”

Villanos’s scholarship is through the Center for Academic Resources and Enrichment Services (CARES), an organization that has assisted him in his time on campus, as well as First-Generation Student Services; two services that Villanos felt already had limited resources. 

“Since the DEI office has been eliminated, they have added first-generation and CARES into the same department,” Villanos said. “CARES already doesn’t have a lot of funding. First-Gen doesn’t really have a lot either, and they’re both gonna use the same pool of money now and have even less resources to help and reach out to these underprivileged students.”

After multiple attempts, the Kernel was unable to get in contact with CARES for a comment regarding funding.

Villanos said he fears that these changes will limit people from having the same opportunities that these departments allowed him to have at UK, especially those programs for students from disadvantaged backgrounds and minority students. 

“They also help out with Appalachian students that are being affected there as well,” he said. 

Villanos and Yi said they want to ensure that the organization’s outreach doesn’t change. 

“There’s such a stereotype of what a Kentucky community looks like. It often overlooks the people of color that have grown up their entire lives in Kentucky,” Yi said. “It’s so hard to imagine yourself at the Community Relations Office if you’re a person of color or a minority, just because you are not often put in the place of being seen as a Kentuckian to begin with.”

Villanos said that at events sponsored by the MLK Center, there was always a mix of people there. 

“The Martin Luther King Jr. Center, it’s like a home for them, and then having their home change, and saying it’s no longer diversity, it’s a community relation, it doesn’t feel the same,” Villanos said. 

Yi felt the university’s mission statement on the website did not follow through with its actions.

“As Kentucky’s flagship institution, the university plays a critical leadership role by promoting diversity, inclusion, economic development and human well-being,” according to the Office of the President website. 

Yi said she felt that the history of equity is important to keep progressing. With the policies being instituted since the Great Depression, according to Yi, the point of these policies was to correct the historical oppressions and regression. 

Yi said by changing the name of the former DEI Office, nothing specifies that these funds will be used for DEI programs in future years. 

“The name itself, just like the not acknowledging equity and not acknowledging the need for institutionally integrating more diversity into this university, it kind of just overlooks, once again, the historical oppressions that have led to this.”

University Stance

UK Spokesperson Jay Blanton said that the university’s mission is to advance Kentucky, looking to ensure that the university is one community from among many people. 

“This (DEI) is an ongoing issue of concern in state houses across the state. We’ve taken time to look at that to understand that and we have to forge the solutions that address the concerns that people have, but that meet the needs and the values of the institution,” Blanton said. 

President Capilouto gathered many opinions over the summer from the campus community before making this decision, according to Blanton. Capilouto heard concerns about not wanting to be perceived as an institution that isn’t for everyone from people on campus. 

“I think he talked to more than 80 people throughout the summer in small groups, hour-long sessions, getting feedback, explaining, having a conversation about ‘here’s what I’m hearing,’” Blanton said. 

Blanton said UK is a “robust and diverse place,” which is what Kentucky needs to help advance the state workforce-wise. 

According to Blanton, after the recent legislative discussion, Capilouto wanted to know the opinions of the legislators. 

“What he heard, particularly from legislators, I think were concerns around the idea of, ‘Are you really a place for everyone? No matter their perspective, no matter what ideas they bring to the table, are you open to everyone?’ And the concern was that we aren’t,” Blanton said. 

The work of making sure UK is a campus for everyone is the work of everybody, not just a singular office or unit, according to Blanton. 

“There’s a commitment to all kinds of diversity, and being, again, that idea of one community from among lots of different people who come from lots of different backgrounds and perspectives. And I think you also heard from folks on campus that the work we do here is the work of everyone,” Blanton said. 

According to Blanton, UK will ensure that faculty and staff of color or different ethnicities will maintain support and protection with the use of the Office of Equal Opportunity.

“We’ve added resources to that office over the last few years … It’s a resource for everyone on campus,” Blanton said. “We want people to know it’s there when they do face those issues. They offer training throughout the campus … for students, faculty and staff.”

Ensuring culture on campus was also a concern that was voiced by the community during the process of deciding to disband DEI. 

“He (Capilouto) makes clear that those values (culture) that are deeply ingrained in who we are, they’re essential to what we do and who we are. That does not change,” Blanton said. 

Several centers and organizations on campus were previously under the office of DEI, but are now under other offices. The Martin Luther King Junior Center is now under the Office for Student Success, as well as the LGBTQ Resource Center and the Veteran Resources Center. 

“There may be someone who’s job description is DEI officer in a college or unit but they are doing work that supports the entire college or unit,” he said. 

No jobs will be eliminated through the DEI disbandment, according to Blanton.

Capilouto has also been reviewing websites throughout the campus, asking individuals to remove statements that could be interpreted as being political or partisan. 

“The president made clear that he doesn’t believe it’s appropriate for him as the representative and the primary spokesperson for the institution to take stances on political or partisan issues,” Blanton said. “That creates the perception that the university is somehow taking sides.”

The university is also no longer requiring training that involves diversity, but it will still be offered. Mandatory statements and course syllabi around diversity are no longer required, the same with job applications, to make it clear that UK’s campus is for everyone, according to Blanton. 

“We want to be a place for everyone. We believe we are a place for everyone,” Blanton said. 

During the summer of 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a large majority that race could not play a factor in admissions and scholarships, according to Blanton. 

“We are complying with that law. That is the law of the land,” Blanton said. “Those rulings at the federal level made significant changes with respect to how race could no longer be a factor in admissions.”

Blanton said this action is a good faith effort to understand the legislature.