Afternoon Update: Diversity offices, statements, and training are banned in Utah's public colleges

Bills banning legacy admissions pass in Virginia; Education Dept. may ban "junk fees" in campus financial products; nondegree credentials; and more. ADVERTISEMENT [Afternoon Update Logo]( You can also [read this newsletter on the web](. Or, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, [unsubscribe](. ANTI-DEI LAW [Diversity Offices, Statements, and Training Are Banned in Utah’s Public Colleges]( By Megan Zahneis [STORY IMAGE]( It’s the first anti-DEI legislation to become law in 2024, joining seven bills in five states that were enacted last year. ADVERTISEMENT THE EDGE [Missed Opportunities in Nondegree Credentials]( By Goldie Blumenstyk [STORY IMAGE]( New reports highlight ways to better deploy those programs and to improve students’ access to federal assistance. Plus: strategies for creating programs for incarcerated students. LATITUDES [As Foreign Governments Extend Reach, U.S. Colleges Must Do More to Protect Students and Scholars]( By Karin Fischer [STORY IMAGE]( A report looks at transnational repression in academe. Plus, a setback for undocumented students, and another college goes need-blind for foreign applicants. ADMISSIONS [Bills Banning Legacy Admissions Have Passed Both Chambers of Virginia Legislature]( On Tuesday the legislation passed the House of Delegates unanimously. An identical bill [passed the Senate]( also unanimously, last week. A spokesman for Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, said he was likely to sign the measure, [which would]( cover [preferential admissions]( at [public colleges]( statewide. Mercury, Associated Press, The Chronicle) FINANCES [Biden Administration Considers Ban on Some Fees for Campus Financial Products]( As part of a broader crackdown on “junk fees” charged by banks, the Education Department may ban or curb fees on college-sponsored debit cards and other financial products that are marketed to students on campus, according to a [draft copy]( of a plan obtained by Politico. FREE SPEECH [Florida State U. Suspends Student Group After It Interrupted Board Meeting]( The university’s chapter of Students for a Democratic Society lost its status as a recognized student organization until May 2025 after its members disrupted a November meeting of FSU’s Board of Trustees with pro-Palestinian chants. The group accused the board of purposely speeding through the meeting’s public-comment period so protesters would be unable to speak. (Tallahassee Democrat) THE SHADOW OF THE PAST [Black Families Uprooted by University’s Expansion May Get ‘Restorative Justice’]( The city of Newport News, Va., and Christopher Newport University have created a task force to [re-examine decades]( of city and university [records]( that [shed light]( on a [Black neighborhood’s destruction](. The panel is to recommend possible redress for the affected families, but its members and schedule have yet to be announced. (ProPublica, The Chronicle) ACADEMIC FREEDOM [Catholic U. Fires Professor Who Hosted ‘Abortion Doula’ in Class]( The university’s president said that, based on “clear evidence that the content of the class did not align with our mission and identity, we have now terminated our contract” with the faculty member, who was a professor of psychology. (Catholic News Agency) NEWSLETTER [Sign Up for the Teaching Newsletter]( Find insights to improve teaching and learning across your campus. Delivered on Thursdays. 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