University of Nebraska regents approve changes to equal‑opportunity language amid public protest

The University of Nebraska Board of Regents voted April 11 to amend board bylaws and system policies governing equal opportunity and related language, a change the board’s supporters said was required to align policy with recent federal guidance and executive orders and that critics said undercuts campus diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

The vote came after a public‑comment period in which students, faculty and staff urged the board not to remove references to race, ethnicity and gender identity from bylaws and policies. Speakers told the regents they had collected hundreds of postcards and written statements opposing the change and argued that decades of higher‑education research show removing explicit protections and commitments reduces retention and graduation rates for minoritized students.

Proponents said the bylaw edits were prompted by a federal executive order and a Department of Education “Dear Colleague” letter directing federal contractors, including universities, to modify certain practices. Regents who supported the measure said the board’s legal team advised that policy language must be brought into compliance with current federal direction to protect university funding; at least one regent cited cases where institutions that tried to comply still faced federal scrutiny.

During the meeting, multiple student regents and faculty representatives spoke against the changes. “When we don’t have programs and policies that explicitly reflect who our students are and say that we will protect them, student success goes down,” said a student speaker who identified herself as someone who studies higher education and who told the board the proposed edits appeared reactionary to recent federal actions. Crystal Garcia, introduced herself as an associate professor of educational administration at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and told the board the removal of explicit DEI language would harm students and shield inequities from research attention.

Members of the board debated whether the legal risk of noncompliance with federal contractor requirements outweighed the potential institutional harms critics described. Several regents said they had received large volumes of constituent letters and postcards opposing the change but said they were weighing the practical risk to funding and federal relationships. One regent explicitly cited the University’s responsibility to maintain Pell and federal research funding as a factor in voting to change the policy.

The amendments considered under item 12 C 2 were approved by roll call. The transcript records mixed votes and one abstention during the roll call; the motion carried. Separately, the board adopted additional bylaw and policy edits (including a parental leave consolidation and other administrative updates) in subsequent votes that were announced during the meeting.

The meeting record shows the bylaw changes were brought forward as part of a broader package of updates to board bylaws and policies; additional chapters of bylaws and policies will return to the board for final votes at the June meeting. Several regents and student regents said they plan to press for broader campus education and implementation planning to accompany the changes.