MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee spoke to student organization leaders on Monday about recent federal policies concerning diversity, equity and inclusion and how they will impact student-led organizations’ funding and operation.

​MTSU closed any department that offered benefits to students based on sex, race, ethnicity, age or other demographic characteristics, following the passing of Tennessee Public Chapter 458, known as the “Dismantling DEI Departments Act,” which went into effect in May.

​“This is not a policy issue of the university; the university is following the law,” McPhee said in the meeting.

McPhee introduced University Counsel and Secretary to the Board, James Floyd, to further explain the legislation passed in April.

​Floyd clarified that the rollbacks on DEI resources in universities began in 2023 with the Supreme Court case Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. The Supreme Court ruled that universities such as Harvard and the University of North Carolina violated the 14th Amendment by including a racial component in their admissions processes. 

​The case outcome put universities on notice that any programs with a racial element could be suspect, leading MTSU to review any scholarships that involved those components, Floyd said.

“The university cannot participate in activities causing disparate treatment of any individual or group,” Floyd said.

​Student organizations, however, are not required to respect the same guidelines as a federally supported university.

​While the university must adhere closely to federal and state laws, student organizations can develop, implement and support programs and services that address diversity, equity and inclusion, McPhee said.

The university cannot support those programs through funding or resources, McPhee said. Student programs are permitted only to use the student activity fees included in tuition.

“Since the student activities fees are generated by students, it’s not state resources; therefore, they can support your activities,” McPhee said.

​​MTSU recently implemented a $10 increase in tuition to support student organizations that may lose university funding by dismantling DEI policies. 

“You can apply for student activity fee funds for any event your program wants to put on; the same activity guidelines that have existed for many years still apply,” Danny Kelley, assistant vice president of student affairs and interim dean of students, said.

​Faculty members can still participate in student organizations supporting DEI, as long as they do so outside their affirmed role as a university employee, McPhee said.

​“I think that’s still an open question, in terms of how you distinguish between personal engagement versus something of an official capacity, and I think that’s something we’ll have to work through,” Floyd said.

​McPhee assured students that the university will still be there to support them.

​“We have to follow the law, but we want to make sure that if there are ways we can continue to provide additional support for all students, that we are going to do that,” McPhee said.

Students in attendance were thankful for the university’s efforts to clarify DEI policies and restrictions.

​“I think it is good for students to hear directly from university leadership about the changes that impact their student organizations and groups,” said RJ Ware, MTSU’s student body president. “I appreciate Dr. McPhee and James Floyd for taking the time to meet with our student leaders.” 

Other student participants felt that the meeting became redundant. Autumn Gray, MTSU Senior and Chapter President of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc., said she was disappointed by the information communicated at the meeting.

​“The university — they have resources they can use to help us out, but now we’re just on our own,” Gray said.

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