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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 60th Legislature (2025)
SENATE BILL 846 By: Standridge
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to higher education; creating the
Stop DEI Act; providing short title; defining terms;
requiring institution of higher education governing
boards to establish certain curricula and designate
courses in certain manner; prohibiting an institution
and certain individuals from requiring, soliciting,
or incentivizing participation in certain practices
or content; providing cert ain exemption; directing
alleged violations to be submitted to the Oklahoma
State Regents for Higher Education on certain form;
directing the State Regents to adopt certain policy;
requiring policy to include certain procedures;
directing an institution fo und in certain violation
to be ineligible to receive certain allocations;
requiring submission of certain annual report on
certain date; providing for contents of report;
providing certain construction; providing for
codification; providing an effective da te; and
declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF TH E STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 3260 of Title 70, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Stop DEI
Act”.
B. For the purposes of this section:
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1. “Constrain” means failure during any semester of an academic
year to provide sufficient open seats i n alternative courses for a
student to complete or progress toward completion of a degree or
program requirements;
2. “DEI-CRT” means diversity, equity, inclusion, and critical
race theory;
3. “DEI-CRT related course” means any course with a
description, course overview, course objectives, proposed student
learning outcomes, written examinations, or written or oral
assignments for which the student will receive a grade that includes
DEI-CRT related content;
4. “DEI-CRT related content” means content that does one or
more of the following:
a. relates any of the following topics to contemporary
American society: critical theory, whiteness,
systemic racism, institutional racism, anti -racism,
microaggressions, systemic bias, implicit bias,
unconscious bias, intersectionality, gender identity,
social justice, cultural competence, allyship, race -
based reparations, or race -based privilege, race - or
gender-based diversity, race - or gender-based equity,
or race- or gender-based inclusion,
b. promotes the idea that racially neutral or color -blind
laws, policies, or institutions perpetuate op pression,
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injustice, race-based privilege including white
supremacy or white privilege, or inequity by failing
to actively differentiate on the basis of race, sex,
or gender,
c. promotes the differential treatment of any individual
or groups of individuals based on race or ethnicity in
contemporary American society,
d. promotes the idea that a student is biased on account
of his or her race or sex, or
e. does not include identifyi ng and discussing historical
movements, ideologies, or instances of racial hat red
or discrimination including, but not limited to,
slavery, Indian tribe removal, the Holocaust, or
Japanese-American internment;
5. “DEI-CRT practices” means:
a. any requirement or guidance that a course instructor
include or curate materials on the basis of the race,
sex, or gender identity of an author or authors, or
b. participating in any workshop, training, seminar, or
professional development on any DEI -CRT related
content.
DEI-CRT practices does not mean any programming explicitly required
by and limited to an institution of higher education ’s obligations
to comply with: Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as
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amended; the Americans with Disabilities Act, as am ended; the Age
Discrimination in Employment Act, as amended; Title VI of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964; or an applicable court order; and
6. “Institution of higher education ” means an institution of
higher education within The Oklahoma State System of High er
Education.
C. The governing board of each institution of higher education
shall establish curricula and designate courses at the institution
in a manner that does not constrain or require students to enroll in
a DEI-CRT related education, major, minor, or certificate
requirement, except as provided for in subsection E of this section.
D. An institution of higher education or any employee,
appointee, or committee acting on behalf thereof may not require,
solicit, or incentivize faculty to apply or parti cipate in DEI-CRT
practices or include DEI -CRT related content in any course a s a
condition of approval, designation, or listing as part of any
academic degree program including general education, major, minor,
or certificate requirements or as a condition of consideration in
any faculty member’s performance assessment, promotion, tenure,
salary adjustment, or any other incentive, except as provided for in
subsection E of this section.
E. Academic degree program requirements of any major, minor,
certificate, or department with a title that clearly establishes its
course of study as primarily focused on racial, ethnic, or gender
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studies may be exempted in writing by the governing board of the
institution of higher education from the prohibitions of subsectio ns
C and D of this section, subject to the following:
1. A student may not be constrained or required to enroll in
any such program, department, or course to satisfy the requirements
of any other academic degree program including general education
requirements or any other major, minor, or certificate requirements;
2. Courses offered or listed under such programs shall satisfy
the academic degree program requirements of the respective
departments, majors, minors, or certificates only and shall not be
used to satisfy degree requirements for general education or other
major, minor, or certificate requirements beyond satisfying
university credit-hour graduation requirements; and
3. The title of any currently established department, major,
minor, or certificate program shall not be altered or replaced to
establish an emphasis on racial , ethnic, or gender studies.
F. 1. An alleged violation of the provisions of this section
shall be submitted to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher
Education on a form prescr ibed by the State Regents.
2. The State Regents shall adopt a policy providing for the
investigation of alleged violations submitted pursuant to paragraph
1 of this subsection. The policy shall include due process
procedures. An institution of higher ed ucation found to be in
violation of the provisions of this section shall be in eligible to
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receive funding allocations from the Oklahoma State Regents for
Higher Education for the following fiscal years.
3. The State Regents shall submit a report by Decemb er 31,
2026, and each December 31 thereafter to the Governor, the President
Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, and the chairs of the committees with
responsibility over appropriations in both houses of the Legislature
detailing the alleged violations submitted pursuant to paragraph 1
of this subsection and the findings of investigations conducted
pursuant to paragraph 2 of this subsection.
G. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the
academic freedom of an y individual institution of higher education ’s
faculty to direct the instruction within his or her own class, nor
limit the free discussion of ideas in a classroom setting.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective July 1, 2025.
SECTION 3. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
of the public peace, health, or safety, an emergency is hereby
declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and
be in full force from and after its passage and approv al.
60-1-720 EB 1/16/2025 9:19:43 AM