by Casey Smith, Indiana Capital Chronicle
February 7, 2025
Indiana senators advanced a hotly-debated bill Thursday that cracks down on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in schools and state government.
Senate Bill 289 advanced from the chamber in a 34-13 vote after more than three hours of floor debate — and following a contentious, unprecedented challenge to Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith’s Senate presidency.
While presiding over the bill’s debate, Beckwith posted on his personal X account that Indiana “torpedoed woke indoctrination” by passing the legislation. But Senate Bill 289 was still being debated, and Beckwith was in charge of the chamber.
Tensions boiled over as Democrats objected to the post. Their call to remove Beckwith as the Senate chair was unsuccessful, however.
Four Republicans crossed party lines to vote against the measure
🚨 HOOSIER REVOLUTION: Indiana Just TORPEDOED Woke Indoctrination! 🚨
The Indiana Senate just dropped the hammer on the radical DEI racket with SB 289—and the left is LOSING IT. No more taxpayer-funded race hustling. No more forced ideological brainwashing in schools and…
— TheMicahBeckwith (@MicahBeckwith) February 6, 2025
Key provisions in the bill, authored by Republican Sen. Gary Byrne, prohibit mandatory DEI training in K-12 public schools and restrict DEI programs within state universities.
The legislation was amended earlier in the week to include pieces of a related measure, Senate Bill 235, authored by Sen. Tyler Johnson, R-Leo. That language would bar state agencies and colleges from funding DEI offices or employees and from bestowing contracts or grants on entities that mandate DEI training. It also lets Indiana’s attorney general sue for violations.
Byrne said the proposal “centers around one thing: the government should treat everyone equally.”
“The DEI worldview is trying to convince Americans that discrimination can actually be a good thing — so long as it’s the right kind of discrimination. I respectfully, but wholeheartedly disagree with that thinking,” said Byrne, or Byrneville. “I think it pits people against each other, and it causes people to lose trust that they will be treated fairly.”
Democrats pressed Byrne about what agency operations and school curricula would specifically be affected or outlawed under the bill. The Republican senator largely dodged those questions and instead repeatedly maintained that his bill “is about transparency and ending discrimination.”
Johnson pushed back, arguing that Democrats had “created confusion” about a bill that intends to “remove divisive and discriminatory, top-down manipulative ideology.”
“All I’m asking is that you agree with me that it’s not right to discriminate,” he continued. “Because you can’t fix discrimination with discrimination.”
Many Republicans nationally believe that DEI — which aims to increase participation of women, people of color and other minority groups — is used to discriminate against others. But no one specifically said white people in Thursday’s debate.
‘Transparency and ending discrimination’
Byrne held that his bill seeks to “prevent discrimination at the state level” and ensure that “Indiana government must treat all citizens equally.”
DEI is explicitly described in the legislation “as any effort” to do the following:
Manipulate or otherwise influence the composition of employees with reference to race, sex, color, or ethnicity, which does not include ensuring color blind and race neutral hiring in accordance with state and federal anti-discrimination laws.Promote differential treatment of or provide special benefits to individuals on the basis of race, sex, color, or ethnicity.Promote or promulgate policies or procedures designed or implemented with reference to race, sex, color, or ethnicity that are not policies or procedures approved in writing by the attorney general for the sole purpose of ensuring compliance with any applicable court order or state or federal law.Promote or promulgate training, programming, or activities designed or implemented with reference to race, sex, color, or ethnicity that are not training, programming, or activities developed by an attorney and approved in writing by the attorney general for the sole purpose of ensuring compliance with any applicable court order or state or federal law.
A carveout in the bill says DEI does not include efforts or materials that “inform individuals about the prohibition of discrimination based on protected status under state or federal law.” Also not affected are activities to “retain or support” students and employees — as long as those efforts “do not promote differential treatment and are open to all individuals irrespective of race, color, ethnicity, or any other protected status under state or federal law.”
State employees and students could still voluntarily attend DEI training or programs, per the bill.
They can additionally “independently” access DEI-related materials and conduct related research.
“Discussion or teaching” on DEI topics would be permitted in classrooms so long as the school “makes clear that it does not sponsor, approve, or endorse” those beliefs and concepts.
State agencies would further be banned from having DEI offices or hiring practices. They also wouldn’t be allowed to “promote, embrace, or endorse stereotypes.”
Byrne said schools and agencies would be mandated to post their “DEI-related materials” online so “citizens can see for themselves what ideals are being promoted.”
That section of the bill stipulates that all staff training and instructional materials concerning nondiscrimination, diversity, equity, inclusion, race, ethnicity, sex and bias must be publicly available.
Another piece of the proposal would prevent DEI training requirements for state-regulated health care licensure.
“I know people have strong feelings on this bill, and I want to be crystal clear that while I’m against the ideology called DEI, I’m not against diversity,” Byrne said. “Hoosiers come from many walks of life and many backgrounds, and it’s good to celebrate that. What I don’t want is the government to say that everyone with with a certain trait should automatically get preferential or adverse treatment.”
Democrats push back
Democrats and other opponents raised concerns that anti-DEI bill language will harm marginalized communities and suppress meaningful discussions on systemic inequality.
Byrne maintained that schools can still teach about slavery, the Holocaust, the Civil Rights Movement and other historical topics, although the bill does not say so, specifically.
“In short, the bill says you shouldn’t teach a particular group is superior or inferior, or that a person’s moral character is determined by (certain) traits, or that an individual today should be blamed for its group’s past actions,” Byrne said. “(Schools and teachers) would absolutely be able to condemn things like slavery and the evils of the Holocaust. I want Hoosier kids to be taught that slavery is and was evil. The same for the Holocaust, too — or whatever historical events someone might bring up.”
After numerous Democrats questioned whether taxpayer-funded scholarships for minority students would be affected, Johnson said those awards “would be handled separately from the bill.” The Republican senator pointed to a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision ending the use of race in college admissions, including for scholarships.
Even so, Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray was confident scholarships, like those aimed at Black and Latino students, wouldn’t be impacted.
“Nothing in there says they can’t accept scholarship money, and the scholarships themselves are a very specific statute that were not deleted in this bill,” he told reporters. “The way that really works, at least in my opinion, is that specific statutes prevail over more general statutes. Those statutes are going to stay in place, and they’ll be able to continue to be accepted by Indiana colleges and universities.”
Bray said trying to craft legislation on DEI was like “squeezing jello, because it’s a nebulous definition.” He called Sen. Greg Walker — the lone Republican senator to speak on the floor against the bill — a “very, very thoughtful” member of his caucus, and said he respected defectors who “didn’t think the right fit was there.”
Sen. Andrea Hunley, D-Indianapolis, said replacing “diversity” with “merit” is “just replacing one ideology with another.”
“I do not believe that the intent of any of the authors of the legislation is to be racist in any way. I do not believe that that is their intent,” Hunley said. “What I do believe is that this bill is creating confusion, that it’s sowing division, that it’s making people feel unseen, and that it’s making them feel scared that practices that have been put in place to disrupt centuries of systemic racism are now going to be challenged. And that is absolutely a problem.”
