Rep. Burgess Owens’ new bill would prohibit college accreditors from requiring DEI, CRT

Rep. Burgess Owens proposed a bill that would prohibit college accreditors from requiring college professors to include topics like diversity, equity and inclusion, and critical race theory.
The Accreditation for College Excellence, ACE, Act would push accreditors to not require, encourage, or coerce a college to follow partisan political beliefs. In fact, the bill would curb accreditors from assessing an institution’s commitment to a specific political ideology for federal financial aid funding. The ACE Act, which passed the House in a 213-201 vote, would also protect a college’s right to freedom of speech as well as religious freedom.
“We’re not going to support anti-American Marxist ideologies, like DEI and CRT,” Owens, R-Utah, said. “We need to get back to basics.”
Owens said he didn’t know about this issue until after he visited a Junior High School in Florida about two years ago, where a staff member said that to get accredited, the teachers had to incorporate DEI-related learning in their curriculum.
“I was really surprised by that,” the Utah representative revealed. “We need to get back to basics; teaching kids how to reach, how to read.”
Although administrating this policy would be a slow process, Owens hailed it as a new chapter for higher education that is marked by accountability. “That’s why it’s going to be so important that the Republican Party maintains the control of the House. It’s called oversight,” he added.
After passing the House, the ACE Act faces a roadblock ahead in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Owens said he doesn’t expect the upper chamber to pick up the bill, or for President Joe Biden to sign it into law. The Utah congressman said he hopes the 2024 presidential election’s outcome favors the right and helps propel GOP priorities, like the ACE Act.
Owens also spoke about the increasing “divisiveness and anger” in the country.
“We’ve always had different parties, but we’ve never been at this particular place we’re at right now, where we are right now, is on purpose,” he said.
This political division, which has been increasing among American voters, is evident as of late as former President Donald Trump faced two assassination attempts.
Two months ago, a bullet grazed Trump’s ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, while one rally-goer was killed and two others seriously injured. Earlier this month, while Trump was golfing at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, a Secret Service agent shot at a man who had a rifle, which was poking out of the tree line.
“You see what happened at the border, that’s on purpose. You see what’s going in our school system, where we have kids coming out and hating our country, hating Israel, that’s on purpose,” Owens added.