“Yes” to Texas’s New Anti-DEI Complaint Portal

James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal ^ | March 12, 2026 | Keller Moore

[karpov]

The Lone Star State has done something rare, new, and needed: It has given its anti-DEI statutes teeth. As of January 9th, students, faculty, and university employees can now report violations of Senate Bill 17, a 2023 statute banning all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices, to a complaint portal at the State Office of the Ombudsman’s website. A dropdown menu lists the six possible areas where Texas colleges and universities might sneak in DEI measures, ranging from the curriculum to hiring processes. Non-student citizens can use a separate portal to provide unofficial feedback and complaints.

According to the complaint-process outline, if an investigation concludes that an institution has broken SB 17, that institution has 180 days to comply before the issuance of a report to the ombudsman and the state auditor registering noncompliance. The state can then withhold funding from that college or university. The message is clear: Obey or lose state dollars.

Texas also strengthened its campaign against DEI by passing SB 37 in 2025, a measure that shifts hiring- and curricular-approval authority from faculty to the governor-appointed Board of Regents. This board is already wielding its power. In February, it unanimously approved a rule requiring professors to “fairly present” clashing viewpoints and change course requirements that force students to study “unnecessary controversial subjects.”

Texas’s strong push against DEI has caused the usual uproar among faculty unions. In a press release, the state’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) professed fear of an “unprecedented Big Government intrusion into the freedom to learn, teach, and research” and suggested that the complaint-portal process is “ripe for abuse.”

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TOPICS: Education
KEYWORDS: college; dei; texas

[HockeyPop]

Great news! Now Texas needs to hire lots of young right thinking lawyers to prosecute these cases.