UW’s Black 14 summer institute canceled amid state assault on diversity programs
The institute honors the legacy of the Black 14 and teaches high school students about leadership, advocacy and diversity. A notice today cites recent attacks on DEI as the cause for cancellation.
Addendum: After the publication of this story, UW sent an email to all employees suggesting this year’s institute might still take place. “Contrary to a message posted on a University of Wyoming unit’s website Friday, no decisions have been made regarding the 2024 Black 14 Social Justice Summer Institute,” the email states, adding that the future of the summer institute is “among the issues being considered” by a university group tasked with determining which diversity efforts UW should keep.
The University of Wyoming’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has announced the cancellation of a summer institute honoring the Black 14, citing the “current climate” surrounding DEI initiatives at UW.
UW’s budget was cut by $1.7 million during the most recent session of the Wyoming Legislature and the existence and purpose of its DEI programs became fodder for partisan fighting on the senate floor and in the text of the state budget.
While the institute itself was not defunded by the Wyoming Legislature’s cuts, UW is taking actions to address the fury of some state legislators regarding diversity efforts at the university. As the cancellation of the summer institute makes plain, the attack on DEI — and the response to it — have ramifications beyond the official decisions made by lawmakers or top administrators.
“At this time, the University of Wyoming is navigating the results of the recent Wyoming Legislature budgetary session,” states a notice on the summer institute’s webpage that was removed Saturday afternoon. “As UW reorganizes itself, we’ve made the difficult decision that this current climate would not be conducive to an effective social justice institute. We hope that these efforts may be able to continue in the future.”
The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion did not respond to a request for comment Saturday. The notice, as well as the entire page detailing and advertising the summer institute, has been taken down.
The Black 14 Social Justice Summer Institute was slated to take place in July. The institute, first launched in 2022, invites high school students interested in social justice to spend a week and a half on the UW campus, developing “leadership, social justice, and diversity skills” while “fostering confidence, personal ethics, and advocacy.”
The event honors the 14 football players who were booted from the 1969 UW Cowboys for requesting to wear armbands during an upcoming game against Brigham Young University. BYU is affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which maintained a racist policy of banning Black members from full church membership until 1978.
Many of those UW Cowboys booted in 1969 supported the summer institute established in their honor. Former leading receiver John Griffin gave a speech to last year’s participants at an event less than two months ago, and several members appeared in a fundraising video for this year’s institute.
But DEI efforts, broadly defined, have come under fire at the University of Wyoming. A footnote added by right-wing state senators initially forbade UW from spending any state funds on its Office of DEI or on any diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives more generally.
UW rallied against that footnote, with faculty, staff and students flooding a UW Board of Trustees meeting to voice their discontent.
Ultimately, Gov. Gordon vetoed part of the footnote. He left the clause banning the use of state funds on the DEI Office specifically, but struck the line forbidding the use of state funds on DEI programs more generally. UW is still free, at least for now, to maintain a DEI Office as long as it funds that office through other means.
But the assault on DEI at UW has inspired the university to reevaluate all of its DEI and DEI-adjacent programs and initiatives. Shortly after the governor signed the state budget bill, university leadership announced it was establishing a taskforce to examine its offerings and commitments, determining what can stay, what can’t and what needs to find alternative funding.
“But the message from lawmakers, regardless of the welcomed line-item veto from the Governor, is that our DEI efforts must change,” UW President Ed Seidel wrote in a message to campus.
The prohibition on the use of state funds for UW’s DEI Office goes into effect July 1 with the rest of the state’s biennium budget — two weeks before the summer institute was slated to begin.
The summer institute, however, appears to have been funded by private donations, with a givecampus.com donation page showing more than $45,500 raised from 106 donors.
In the fundraising video on that website, Lionel Grimes, a member of the Black 14, said the 1969 incident was “very stressful and disheartening” for him.
“It changed my life substantially but it also gave me an idea of what I needed to do to progress and continue to go on,” Grimes said. “Being a part of the summer social [justice] institute, it has brought a lot of young individuals together that otherwise would not have had an opportunity to come here.”
In the same video, Meeshla Bovee said her experiences attending the institute in 2022 were so informative and positive she returned to serve as a peer mentor in 2023.
“I fell in love with the program, I fell in love with the work that we do, and fell in love with the members of the Black 14 and their story,” she said. “I really wanted to come back and be a part of that, but for other kids.”
A 2023 participant, Ella King, said her own participation had helped her grow as a person.
“We’re learning so much in such a short amount of time,” King said. “So I also want to say thank you — thank you for showing us that vulnerability is okay and that it shows strength and growth.”
Disagree? The Great State of Wyoming is historically known for diversity, women’s rights, etc. The university should NOT have cancelled the Black 14 Summer Institute because of political infighting. That is a childish, “I’ll show you” mentality.
To claim that not wishing to fund DEI at UW is an “attack” is childish. It is certainly not needed. You act like America in the 21st Century is mean and evil. Get a life!