Utah higher ed. leader says he didnt force schools to close cultural centers under DEI law [Video]

Utah’s commissioner for higher education insists he did not tell public colleges in the state that they had to shutter their cultural centers to abide by the new anti-DEI law — but, he says, he did advise them that it would likely be “an inevitability” down the road.

And so some schools are choosing to take that path now rather than wait, said Geoff Landward, who oversees all of the state’s universities and technical colleges.

“It’s not required by law. And I’m not directing them to do it as a requirement,” he told The Salt Lake Tribune on Wednesday. “But it’s what I’m advising them to do either now or to start transitioning toward as the model for the future.”

As such, two Utah schools have drawn attention as they’ve announced they will close all of their cultural centers. The University of Utah— the state’s flagship institution — is shutting down its Women’s Resource Center, LGBT Resource Center, Black Cultural Center …