Higher education; prohibiting certain activities related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Effective date. Emergency.
SB 796 creates new restrictions on how institutions within the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education may use state funds, property, or resources in connection with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The bill bars institutions from funding or supporting DEI positions, departments, activities, procedures, or programs when they are tied to preferential treatment based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, or sex. It also prohibits mandatory DEI-related training or programming that grants preferences, loyalty oaths favoring particular groups, compelled ideological statements, DEI statements in hiring, and requiring individuals to disclose pronouns.
The bill also requires institutions to review existing DEI-related functions after the effective date and restructure or eliminate those not necessary for legal compliance, accreditation, or broad student and employee support services. It includes exceptions for activities needed to satisfy state or federal law, accreditation or licensure requirements, academic freedom, scholarly research, student organizations, guest speakers, certain support services, data collection, and access programs for military members, veterans, Pell Grant recipients, first-generation students, low-income students, students with unique abilities, and underserved populations. Institutions must submit an annual certificate of compliance to state leaders beginning July 1, 2026, and the State Regents for Higher Education may adopt rules to implement the law.
The bill adds a new section to Title 70 governing public higher education and directly limits the use of state resources for specified DEI-related activities at institutions in the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education. It imposes an ongoing compliance and reporting requirement, authorizes rulemaking by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, and takes effect July 1, 2025, with an emergency clause intended to make it effective immediately upon passage and approval. The practical effect is to require public colleges and universities to audit, potentially restructure, and document their DEI-related operations while preserving certain legally required, academic, and student-support functions.
The voting history suggests the bill had meaningful support but also notable opposition. It passed the Senate committee 7-3, the full Senate 39-8, the House committee 4-2, and the full House 77-18, with the emergency clause also passing 76-17. That pattern indicates broad majority support in both chambers, but not unanimity, consistent with a politically divisive measure. No committee transcript was provided, so the available record shows support in the legislature but does not include detailed debate statements.
The main points of contention are the bill’s restrictions on DEI programming, compelled speech, and pronoun disclosure, which opponents likely view as limiting campus inclusion efforts and institutional autonomy. Supporters appear to frame the measure as preventing preferential treatment, compelled ideological conformity, and the use of public resources for race- or sex-based preferences. A secondary area of concern is how institutions will distinguish prohibited DEI functions from permitted student-support, compliance, accreditation, and academic-freedom activities, since the bill requires a review and possible elimination of functions that are not deemed necessary. The exceptions for research, student organizations, and support programs suggest an attempt to narrow the bill’s reach, but the line-drawing remains a likely source of dispute.