UW’s Diversity VP leaves amid closure of DEI Office
UW has committed to moving programs and privately funding others, but Hall’s departure shows the right-wing assault on higher education diversity programs has altered the university.
Zebadiah Hall, the University of Wyoming Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, has accepted a job at Salisbury University in Maryland.
His position at UW was axed alongside the DEI Office he oversaw during a UW Board of Trustees meeting last week. While neither he nor any members of his office were going to be fired — the university planned to reassign all personnel from the shuttered office to other positions — Hall’s departure speaks to the wider consequences of the Wyoming Legislature’s attack on all things labeled “diversity, equity and inclusion.”
“I appreciate the time I have spent in UW and the opportunity to connect with so many people across campus and the state,” Hall says in a UW news release announcing his new job. “I have learned a great deal, and I’m sure I will carry these experiences with me for the rest of my career.”
UW hired Hall in late 2022 to manage its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion — a clearinghouse and central location for various programs and functions that serve to keep UW federally compliant and welcoming to students from a range of backgrounds.
But “diversity, equity and inclusion” has become a dirty phrase in right-wing circles, blamed for everything from airplane failures to antisemitism by those who cite little evidence for such allegations and who frequently cannot, or do not, define what it is they are targeting.
That discourse came to a head for the University of Wyoming during the latest state legislative session when senators added a footnote to UW’s budget forbidding the use of state funds on its DEI Office or on DEI activities more generally.
The UW community rallied in defense of the office, its programs and its leader, Zebadiah Hall, during an “extraordinary” Board of Trustees meeting that drew dozens of students, faculty and staff.
Gov. Mark Gordon issued a partial veto so that the final state budget allows UW to spend public money on DEI programs, but not on such an office. Earlier this month, UW voted to disband its DEI Office, redistributing many of its major functions elsewhere, promising to reassign its staff and further promising to reevaluate the wider range of activities at UW that might fall under the banner of DEI.
While most of the functions carried out by the DEI Office can likely be maintained elsewhere — such as compliance with federal laws and some student success programs — the attack on DEI and the uncertainty of DEI’s future at UW has already had consequences for the institution, Hall’s departure only the latest such consequence.
The Black 14, former UW Cowboys booted during the 1969 football season for wanting to take a stand against racism, backed out of an annual summer institute at UW that bore their name, citing the legislative attacks. UW canceled the summer institute.
During the Board of Trustees meeting last week, as UW leaders weighed their options regarding the DEI Office, Hall spoke to the board, arguing that freedom of expression cannot exist without diversity, equity and inclusion. He said many misunderstand what DEI is and what his office does, despite his door always being open.
“I hope for the folks that are confused about what DEI means, they come sit with me and spend time with me, because I care about all the people in this state,” Hall said. “And I think that everybody in the state should have access to this university.”
In the news release announcing Hall’s departure, UW President Ed Seidel reiterated what he and members of the board have said repeatedly during their public discussions: the university values Hall’s contributions as well as Hall himself.
In the end, however, it was Seidel who recommended closing the office and the board who voted to approve that closure.
“We appreciate and celebrate the work Zebadiah has done at UW. We also understand that this opportunity to work as a vice president at another university is one he couldn’t pass up,” Seidel says. “As we noted during last week’s Board of Trustees meeting, we are committed to continuing many services that are important for the success of our students, faculty and staff — and to being a welcoming place for everyone, as Zebadiah worked so hard to advance.”
Provost Kevin Carman added, in his own message to campus, that Hall’s departure is a net loss for UW.
“This has been a difficult time for UW, and I am deeply saddened to lose a tremendous colleague,” Carman writes. “We send Zebadiah our best wishes and will always consider him a Poke and dear friend.”
Hall will start as Vice President of Inclusion, Access and Belonging at Salisbury University July 15, just two weeks after UW’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion officially shuts down.
Hall is working toward a Ph.D through UW and will continue that program, according to Salisbury University’s own news release.
Actions speak louder than words. It's clear the governor didn't have the spine to fulfill his oath to the "equality" state and the UW president and board failed in the same way. We already knew the legislature has been bought by out of state interests like 'Honor Wyoming,' etc.
Some news falls in the absolutely not surprising category. So the pull & push of Wyoming culture continues and apparently this is the Wyo people want.
This is what the people who were voted in decided to do with the short amount of legislative time they have available to serve the population of the state!