This article was updated at 7:28 p.m. to correct that OU is not holding a press conference on diversity, equity and inclusion on Wednesday morning, according to a university spokesperson. Instead, it is clarified to say a university leader expects a press conference to happen on Wednesday, but did not say who would be holding the press conference. The headline of this article was also changed to reflect this correction.
OU Faculty Senate discussed Oklahoma’s upcoming legislative session during its fourth meeting of the semester on Monday.
Hunter Heyck, Faculty Senate chair, introduced the meeting with a land acknowledgment before proposing a motion to approve a change in the language of non-regular faculty’s ability to vote on university matters. The motion was approved to strike out the language “no voice, no vote.”
The meeting’s guests, Sean Burrage, OU vice president of executive affairs and chief of staff, and Hollye Hunt, chief government affairs officer, spoke to senators about the upcoming legislative session. The session will begin Feb. 5 at the Oklahoma state Capitol.
Burrage laid out how the legislative session plays out every year.
Hunt took the microphone and detailed what the university can expect this legislative session. She mentioned that the university had a win last year when Senate Bill 322 passed to exempt higher education from prohibiting offensive language or graphics in electronic resources.
Hunt said it would be government relations malpractice on the university’s part to not have the foresight to know that the state will see anti-DEI bills this session. She said the university is prepared to navigate and fight against these bills.
Burrage expects there will be a press conference on Wednesday regarding diversity, equity and inclusion and the university thinks there could be an executive order from the governor's office, but that accreditation and free speech will be protected. Burrage also confirmed that Belinda Higgs Hyppolite, vice president for diversity and inclusion and chief diversity officer, is involved in all of these conversations.
Burrage did not clarify who is holding the press conference. A university spokesperson told OU Daily the university was not planning on holding one. An employee from OU's Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion said the press conference would be Wednesday morning, but didn't specify a location or a party.
Sen. Andrew Cuccia from the Price College of Business approached the microphone to express concerns about the proposal for a revised version of the university’s Faculty Appeals Board policies. He said there is little power for a faculty member in situations involving tenure abnegation or dismissal.
“The entire order in which it happens makes no sense,” Cuccia said.
Faculty Senate voted in favor of delaying and continuing the discussion of the Faculty Appeals Board policies.
Sen. Tom Burns from the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences referenced a clause in the revisions for the severe sanctions policies that states the procedures for termination and abnegation of tenure. Burns motioned to make an amendment that specifies these procedures are only to be used in extreme and rare circumstances. The amendment passed.
Faculty Senate voted to delay and continue the discussion of the severe sanctions policies.
This article was edited by Alexia Aston, Peggy Dodd and Taylor Jones.
