The OU Student Government Association released a statement after the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed House Bill 1775, urging Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt to veto the bill.
HB 1775 was originally written as a bill regarding emergency medical situations during high school sporting events. The bill was entirely rewritten into a bill that implements restrictions on certain gender and diversity theories being taught in schools and could hurt the OU community, according to the statement signed by Tavana Farzaneh, SGA president; Crispin South, chair of the Undergraduate Student Congress; Claire Burch, chair of the Graduate Student Senate; and Kobe Chen, chair of Campus Activities Council.
South, an international security studies junior, said the House had to overturn a rule to allow the authors to fully rewrite the bill.
“The State House actually had to take a vote to suspend their own rules and adopt amendments that were not germane to the original bill,” South said. “This bill really started out as something that maybe could have been decent legislation and something that could have been helpful to Oklahomans. But now, it's just kind of being used for cheap political points.”
South said the move to suspend a rule is “not following the procedures you would normally see in a functioning legislative body.”
Sidney May, SGA vice chair and political science and economics sophomore, said the lawmakers should have had a dialogue with individuals in higher education before writing the bill.
“I don't think that (the legislators) realized some of these effects that we (are) going to see at the university and with higher education as a whole,” May said. “I believe that higher education should have at least been included in the conversation about this legislation before it was passed through the House and Senate. … It is only fair that our voices are heard in this process, and they have not been, and every legislation needs to go through a fair and correct process. And this did not.”
Sean McDaniel, Oklahoma City’s superintendent, released a statement regarding the passing of the bill.
“HB 1775 appears to be a solution looking for a problem that does not exist,” McDaniel said in the statement. “OKCPS follows the guidance of OSDE, teaching the state-determined Oklahoma Academic Standards using state-approved curriculum resources. We believe it is important that we continue to learn both about and from our past in order to build an enlightened and resilient future.”
According to SGA’s statement, HB 1775 goes against what SGA leadership has been advocating for and can have a large impact on campus.
“We have pushed for more funding in higher education, better mental health care, more affordable education, and have stood against harmful legislation. Now, we once again find ourselves standing against legislation that can hurt the OU Community,” SGA leadership wrote in the statement. “We have consistently advocated for more effective, meaningful practices in diversity, equity, and inclusion within our University Community. Unfortunately, legislators in the Oklahoma State House and Senate have decided that attempts to create a more inclusive community are destructive rather than helpful.”
The statement also says the bill goes against all of the university’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, including the recent expansion of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion into a division of the same name. OU has also made campus diversity a central pillar of its “Lead on, University” strategic plan.
“Under the current language in the bill, this likely unconstitutional legislation has the potential to seriously hurt the diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts on our campus,” SGA leadership wrote in the statement. “The vague nature of the regulations and lack of definitions in any capacity in HB 1775 are disappointing and potentially dangerous. In a university community that has publicly struggled with issues of bigotry, this legislation runs counter to our efforts to create a more equitable environment.”
Kesha Keith, OU’s Director of Media Relations, wrote in an email to The Daily the university will closely monitor the bill’s possible impact on diversity training.
“OU's diversity, equity, and inclusion training aims to engage participants in a meaningful learning experience with the goal of fostering a more inclusive campus community centered on creating a sense of belonging and emotional support for all,” Keith wrote in the email. “OU will continue to closely monitor and evaluate any impacts the bill could have related to certain portions of training on current higher education practices.”
Around 5:40 p.m. May 5, The Daily obtained a statement from OU President Joseph Harroz on the bill. In the statement, Harroz wrote university officials have directly moved to oppose the bill's passage.
"Since this bill was first introduced, myself, our government affairs team, and other key administrators have advocated directly against it," Harroz wrote. "It runs contrary to the goals we have laid out for ourselves as part of our Strategic Plan, and the initiatives we have established to make OU a place of true belonging for all."
OU Director of Government Relations John Woods and Interim Provost Jill Irvine will address the bill during the next faculty senate meeting, according to an email from Faculty Senate Chair Amy Bradshaw. The meeting will be at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
The progress made in diversity training is something May said could be undone quickly if Stitt signs the bill.
“OU has worked incredibly hard to make this a safe home and place for students in all types of racial and sexual and ethnic minorities and just like with the snap of a finger that can be undone,” May said. “If we were on a campus that still did not see homophobia and racism and sexism, then this would not necessarily be an issue that we had to fight as hard for. However, we can't even get a whole semester without some (issues) relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This is an ongoing fight, and this is something we need to continue to advocate for because we're not done with making this an equitable and safe environment for those people.”
The statement also encouraged students to fight against this bill by calling Stitt’s office, asking him to veto the bill.
“As the senior leaders of SGA, we represent all 26,372 students and do our best to lead SGA in advocacy of all students,” SGA leadership wrote in the statement. “At this point, despite several meetings between SGA leaders and state legislators, our advocacy alone is not enough to stop this detrimental legislation. This is an issue affecting all students at the University of Oklahoma. Therefore, if this is an issue you care about, if this is legislation you know to be harmful, I respectfully ask that you call the office of the Governor and urge him to veto the bill. Additionally, I ask that students registered to vote in Oklahoma contact their state legislators, asking them to urge a veto from Governor Stitt.”
Editor's note: This article was updated at 5:41 p.m. May 6 to include additional information from OU President Joseph Harroz. The article was also corrected to reflect the correct spelling of Chen's surname and South's major. The Daily apologizes for these errors.
