A memo from UNT\u2019s compliance office alleges that an association whose meeting faculty members requested conference funding to attend violates anti-DEI provisions of the Texas Education Code.<\/p>\n
Michael Barera\/Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n
The University of North Texas has paid for journalism professor Tracy Everbach and her colleagues to attend a certain conference every year since she started at the university in 2004.<\/p>\n
Until this year.<\/p>\n
In a June 30 memo to Everbach and at least five other journalism professors, university administrators said that funding membership or sponsorship costs for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, the organization that hosts the conference she plans to attend and present at next month, violates a Texas law banning diversity, equity and inclusion measures at public institutions.<\/p>\n
The memo, from the University Integrity and Compliance Office, alleges that among other things, the association violates a provision of the Texas Education Code that prohibits \u201cpromoting differential treatment of or providing special benefits to individuals on the basis of race, color or ethnicity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everbach said she doesn\u2019t understand that charge. \u201cIt\u2019s just a regular research conference,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Scheduled for early August in New Orleans, the AEJMC conference has a Jazz & Jambalaya theme, which showcases the \u201crich histories\u201d and \u201cdiverse contributions\u201d of community members, according to the association\u2019s website<\/a>. The schedule says it will feature \u201cthought-provoking programming, diverse voices and exciting opportunities to learn and connect.\u201d<\/p>\n Everbach said she submitted an open records request to the university on July 2 seeking all the communications surrounding the funding denial, in an effort to better understand why officials made the decision. She has yet to receive a response, though UNT has 10 business days to reply.<\/p>\n A \u2018Dangerous Precedent\u2019<\/p>\n Everbach, a tenured professor, is worried about what the denial means for her tenure-track colleagues. \u201cThe reason that we are going to the conference is to represent the university and present our research, which is required as part of our jobs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She added that she believes the move impedes her academic freedom and pointed to the conference funding denial as one of \u201ca number of things\u201d that have occurred because of Texas laws.<\/p>\n SB 17, for example, which took effect<\/a> in January 2024 after Gov. Greg Abbott signed it into law, restricts certain DEI activities at public institutions and requires universities to comply with reporting requirements. The university\u2019s Integrity and Compliance Office said the AEJMC violated provisions of that law.<\/p>\n Everbach said the state\u2019s growing involvement in higher ed led her to accept a buyout from UNT when they offered her one in the spring. She\u2019s employed by the university until Aug. 31, making this her last time attending and presenting at the conference as a UNT faculty member. She still intends to go, but will pay for it herself, she said.<\/p>\n During the conference, Everbach and her colleague plan to present<\/a> a student project called \u201cAmplifying the Voices of the Muscogee Creek Nation,\u201d which showcases how students learned<\/a> to cover historically misrepresented communities.<\/p>\n \u201cI am concerned that the university is setting a precedent that is going to prevent people from being able to go to these conferences and present their research,\u201d Everbach said. \u201cThey are very proud of their status as a research university, which faculty have achieved for them.\u201d<\/p>\n UNT\u2019s funding denial comes after the institution introduced a new procedure for faculty to renew association memberships and apply for conference funding, Everbach said. When she went to her dean\u2019s assistant at the end of March to renew her membership and register for the conference, she said they told her, \u201c\u2018You have to fill out a form for the compliance office.\u2019 My other colleagues were told the same thing, so we all filled out these forms, and we didn\u2019t hear anything,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The membership request form asks faculty to supply information, including past memberships held within the organization and what would happen if it is not renewed. The form indicates that only one staff member is assigned to process the membership requests.<\/p>\n After she waited for months, the university sent Everbach an email late last month saying UNT is unable to fund her request for membership.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile this process may prohibit UNT funding for memberships\/sponsorships of certain organizations, the university may continue to fund travel expenses for faculty and staff to attend conferences that support their professional roles, even if membership funding is not allowed,\u201d the memo read.<\/p>\n UNT said in a statement that it supports faculty research and attendance at conferences that advance its academic, research and service missions and that are in compliance with applicable federal and state laws. It said the university funds travel and registration expenses for faculty attending conferences that support their professional roles.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, the university neither funds nor reimburses individual membership in organizations when doing so does not comply with state law,\u201d the statement read. \u201cThe university does not prohibit any employee from joining organizations in a personal capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n Officials did not answer questions from Inside Higher Ed regarding which specific language from the association violates provisions of the Texas Education Code, or respond to faculty comments that the denial of funding impedes their academic freedom and hinders their ability to present their research. UNT also did not answer why officials decided to deny membership and conference funding for the association this year, but has approved funding in previous years after SB 17 took effect.<\/p>\n