The 2025 legislative session starts Monday, but Idaho higher education ended 2024 in damage control.

There’s no other way to read the dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, or student centers that fit under a DEI rubric. With a sense of urgency — or, arguably, a whiff of desperation — higher education retreated on DEI. Colleges and universities, not generally known for rapid change, announced a series of big changes within the span of a few weeks. Political pressure is the most plausible explanation and the most likely impetus, because Idaho higher ed could face yet another arduous legislative session this winter.

The backtracking on DEI culminated on Dec. 18, when the State Board of Education passed a resolution banning campus student centers “based on DEI ideology.” The unanimous vote came after a public airing of misgivings.

State Board member Kurt Liebich voted yes, after saying he was “uneasy” about unintended consequences. “Who are we not supporting today, after the changes, that we were supporting before?” he asked before the board vote.

University of Idaho President C. Scott Green conveyed “a deep sense of loss and sadness”  on campus, and challenged the premise that the U of I’s programs served some students to the exclusion of others. “I believe we always have supported all of our students.”

And even over a Zoom linkup — since board members and university leaders didn’t actually meet in the same room to discuss and ultimately eliminate campus DEI programs — the emotion was evident in Boise State University President Marlene Tromp’s voice. Quakingly, she said, “It grieves me very deeply that for many years, our work to support and serve our students … has been profoundly misunderstood and misconstrued.”

But setting the agonizing aside, the DEI phaseout was a done deal well before the State Board’s meeting. The retreat was already under way.

On Nov. 29, Boise State closed its Gender Equity Center and its Student Equity Center — and while Tromp says the changes have been in the works for months, the closures came abruptly, during Boise State’s Thanksgiving break.

Idaho State University announced similar shutdowns on Nov. 14, one week before the State Board held its first public discussion of a DEI resolution.

The U of I waited on the State Board, but just barely. On the evening of Dec. 18, hours after the board vote, the U of I emailed a memo to students and staff, saying its DEI programs would close by the beginning of spring semester, “as student support is re-envisioned.”

This “re-envisioning,” at all three universities, is consistent with what the State Board has in mind: one-stop centers that cater to all students, regardless of background. “The idea here is not to take support away from students, but ensure that it is holistic,” State Board Executive Director Joshua Whitworth said at the Dec. 18 meeting.

So the State Board got what it wanted — and in short order — from the university presidents who answer to board members.

Meanwhile, conservative legislators extracted a public concession from higher ed, before the 2025 session even begins. It remains to be seen if higher ed (and the State Board) went far enough to appease lawmakers; a House-Senate DEI task force is scheduled to hold its next meeting on Jan. 9.

Perceptions matter in public policy. The recent moves on DEI have the look of a rush job, and all in response to an issue years in the making. Conservative lawmakers have long railed about anything on campus they consider too “woke.” For two years, the Legislature has banned colleges and universities from spending taxpayer money on social justice programs — forcing them to instead use donor dollars or student fees.

The storm over DEI has been gathering for years. Yet in recent weeks, the higher ed system has been in a rush to stack up sandbags and put plywood planks on the windows.

The one thing that is different — maybe — is that the Legislature’s pushback against higher ed could reach next level this session.

The DEI task force is unabashedly conservative, packed with hardliners. Five of its eight members voted against the final higher ed budget bill of the 2024 session — despite the provision banning the use of taxpayer dollars on DEI.

This is also a more conservative Legislature in general. That could make it easier for hardliners to pass an anti-DEI bill that goes farther than the State Board’s policy, or cobble together the votes to hold a higher ed budget bill hostage.

And it isn’t just the universities that are under political pressure. Whitworth too is under the microscope. Appointed this summer, Whitworth will face Senate confirmation hearings this session, because a 2024 law handed the Legislature veto power over the State Board executive director’s post.

In the interest of political expediency, Idaho’s students were treated as an afterthought. The State Board did survey students on the DEI resolution — during a brief online comment period that coincided with the end of fall semester. Some 700 students responded anyway; about 80% opposed the DEI resolution, and a handful criticized the timing. “Why are you asking obtuse survey questions on finals week?” asked one student.

The answer is self-evident.

Driven by damage control, the State Board and the universities had only one date in mind. With the calendar winding down on 2024, and with the 2025 legislative session looming, they did their own version of end-of-semester cramming.

Kevin Richert writes a weekly analysis on education policy and education politics. Look for his stories each Thursday.