INDIANAPOLIS — The governor has signed a bill that many fear will impact education on college campuses. However, conservative students like Chris Elmore say the legislation is needed.
Elmore is a senior at Purdue university and active in the Indiana Federation of College Republicans. He says students like him are often treated differently on college campuses.
"The University system in the past decade or so has become a lot more hostile towards students with conservative beliefs,” Elmore said.
That is why he is happy to see Senate Enrolled Act 202 become law. Elmore says his educational experience has been affected.
"The classroom experience has gotten pretty difficult,” Elmore said. “Professors are pretty open about their repugnance or dislike for republican ideas or conservative ideas and the people who hold them."
This bill requires universities to report how much diversity committees are spending. Plus, professors could be disciplined or fired if students find their material offensive. The bill's author has said it will improve intellectual diversity on college campuses. But the NAACP and several others see this differently. They say this bill can eliminate and severely limit conversations around diversity equity and inclusion and stop certain historical events and figures from being taught.
"We are taking a multi-faceted approach in continuing to fight this racist bill,” Rev. David Greene the President of the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis said. “That will include working with the national NAACP who has identified us as one of the few states that's doing this, and we will be pushing back like what's happening in Florida."
The national branch of the NAACP sent this letter to current and prospective members of the NCAA. The letter is calling for black student athletes to reconsider their decisions to attend public colleges and universities in Florida. It's a call to action that activists say will be repeated in Indiana along with litigation.
"I anticipate some more of those things happening and I see it having an impact as athletes begin to think about their options especially those that are new recruits,” Rev. Greene said.
Indiana civil rights leaders say they plan on announcing how they will address this legislation in the next 30 to 45 days.
