BOISE, ID — The Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF), in partnership with the Goldwater Institute, is sounding the alarm on blatant attempts by Idaho’s higher education establishment to circumvent Senate Bill 1198 (S1198), or the Freedom from Indoctrination Act; the nation’s most comprehensive ban on mandatory Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) instruction:
In a formal letter sent last week to Attorney General Raúl Labrador, the IFF and Goldwater Institute urged a full investigation into recent exemptions granted to Idaho’s public universities for DEI-related coursework in violation of the Freedom from Indoctrination Act. Despite the law’s clear intent to protect students from radical political indoctrination in mandatory coursework, state schools have taken advantage of guidance issued by the State Board of Education (SBOE) to keep DEI mandates on life support.
Passed as a bold offensive against the radical left’s capture of academia, S1198 was designed to ensure that no student is forced to undergo training or coursework rooted in Critical Theory or DEI ideologies as a condition of graduation. The law restores the university to its core mission: the pursuit of truth, rather than the promotion of race and sex discrimination under the guise of "equity."
Idaho’s public institutions of higher education are twisting and abusing the SBOE’s guidance issued to ensure compliance with S1198 in two primary ways:
Currently, Boise State University, Idaho State University, and the University of Idaho are mandating courses such as "Diversity and Social Justice" and "Introduction to Inequity and Justice" for various degrees, directly defying the legislative intent of SB 1198.
"Last year, the State Board of Education took a strong step to combat DEI at Idaho's public colleges and universities,” said Ron Nate, President of Idaho Freedom Foundation, adding,
“This step provides the foundation for the Legislature to issue an even more emphatic prohibition against this pernicious influence in our system of higher education. These exemptions clearly do not comport with either the spirit or letter of SB 1198.
The law does not allow our future social workers and counselors to be made into radical social justice activists."
Under the Freedom from Indoctrination Act, the Attorney General is required to investigate allegations of non-compliance. The IFF remains committed to ensuring that every Idaho student can pursue a degree without being subjected to forced indoctrination in support of pernicious ideologies that are antithetical to Idaho’s traditional values.
You can read the Goldwater Institute’s full statement here.
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I sincerely hope that we are able to hold these universities feet to the wall. This is what is wrong with our Education system today and why there are fewer and fewer kids going to college. They are slowly and methodically ruining our entire Education System.