Kansas governor signs bill to curb race-related instruction at public colleges

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly signed legislation Wednesday that will prohibit the state’s public colleges from requiring students to take “DEI-CRT” courses, a move that critics warn could censor classroom instruction. 

The legislation is part of a wave of bills targeting college classroom instruction related to diversity, equity and inclusion and critical race theory, a decades-old academic framework that in part teaches that racism is systemic. 

While the legislation leaves “DEI-CRT” courses undefined, it mandates the Kansas Board of Regents to adopt a definition by the end of July. The new policy prohibiting public colleges from mandating these courses for any programs must take effect for the 2028-29 academic year. 

PEN America, a prominent free expression group, had called on Kelly to veto the provision, arguing it would limit classroom discussion related to race and gender. 

“The passage and signing of this provision as part of Kansas’s budget bill is, sadly, proof of the dangerous normalization of educational censorship, even in a state with a democratic governor,” Amy Reid, director of PEN America’s Freedom to Learn program, said in a statement this week. “We will be watching the implementation of these provisions closely.”

Academic program requirements “whose title clearly establishes its course of study as primarily focused on racial, ethnic or gender studies” can receive exemptions from the legislation from the state’s board of regents. However, those courses and programs won’t be allowed to be required elsewhere by the college.