The entrance to the Roger D. and Carla B. Smith Intercultural Center on Aug. 26. The center, which opened in November 2024, has not opened its doors to students this academic year.
Emporia State quietly dissolved its Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion over the summer in what the university says was to comply with state and federal regulations.
Higher education institutions have faced mounting pressure by the Trump administration in recent months to dissolve diversity, equity and inclusion programs under the threat of losing federal funding.
In April, the Kansas legislature passed SB 125, a budget bill which outlined supplemental and general appropriations for the 2025-27 fiscal years. The bill required that state agencies, including public universities, eliminate positions, policies, programs and other areas that relate to diversity, equity and inclusion.
ESU’s Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was responsible for various programs at the university like Basic Needs and the Bonner & Bonner lecture and served students of all backgrounds and identities. TRIO, the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies and the Intercultural Center all reported through the division.
In June, Nyk Robertson, Percy Holt and Mike Torres were let go from ESU after the university eliminated their administrative positions within the division. The division was officially dissolved at the end of the fiscal year on June 30.
Students, faculty and staff have yet to be officially notified of the division’s removal. Gwen Larson, director of media relations and internal communication said the university has “been working to thoughtfully develop plans to ensure a smooth transition.”
“Students will continue to find meaningful opportunities to engage with faculty, staff, and peers throughout campus programs, initiatives, the memorial union and soon the new Student Life Hub which will be housed in the union … As always, STUDENTS are our number one priority, and their success is our mission!” she said in an email to The Bulletin.
“As long as we can”
Institutional moves and legislation targeting DEI are not new, said Torres, the former director of the Intercultural Center. Nationwide, many states have introduced legislation over the past two or three years targeting DEI, he said. Professionals in the field have lost their jobs as a result of legislation dismantling those programs, and now Torres, Holt and Robertson are in the same boat.
“This isn’t something that’s necessarily new, but I think it’s important because it has been going on … on campus, I think the sentiment for all of us is, we will do this work as long as we can, to support students any way that we can and really any student was important for us to be able to provide resources where we’re able to,” Torres said.
The Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion thought they “would be safe” until the Kansas legislature passed SB 125, said Robertson, a former senior diversity officer and assistant dean of the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies. Only then did talks begin about the division’s future. Even after the bill passed, the group of administrators said there was still a lot of waiting around.
“At that time … there wasn’t anything in the executive orders that would warrant us disbanding the (division of) DEI. And so a lot of it was more of what grants might we lose, what programs might we have to kind of change how we’re talking about them, those types of things,” said Robertson.
“(After the bill passed) there were multiple scenarios kind of put forth to (President Hush) and him talking to KBOR, and ultimately the decision was made by them that our division needed to dissolve completely,” they said.
A fate in limbo
The status of some programs housed under the division remain active despite the decision to dismantle it, including TRIO, basic needs and the Bonner & Bonner lecture. Student Wellness now manages the basic needs program and the Honors College will lead the Bonner & Bonner lecture, Larson told The Bulletin in June.
The Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies also resided within the former Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Mallory Bishop, the Institute’s program director, explained that part of Robertson’s responsibilities while transitioning out of their position was to help relocate the division’s components.
Ultimately, after discussions with Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Brent Thomas, the decision was made to move the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies into the School of Library and Information Management. The Institute was established as a “standalone academic unit” following the academic restructuring that began during the 2022-23 academic year.
This decision still has to be approved by the Kansas Board of Regents, but Bishop anticipates no issues in getting the approval. Now that it is a part of SLIM, Bishop, who is the sole faculty member, is unsure of any other changes besides the August termination of Innocent Assoman, the faculty coordinator of First Year Experience.
“Nothing has changed in terms of the majors or programs that I offer through the institute,” said Bishop, “… and I teach the same classes. I have the same job… Essentially, (the Institute is) doing the same thing that we were doing previously, but in a new environment.”
But for the Intercultural Center, the future remains unclear. Torres and Holt spearheaded the center as director and coordinator respectively. Without them or student support staff, the center remains inoperative.
The Roger D. and Carla B. Smith Intercultural Center opened less than a year ago in November 2024.
When asked whether the Intercultural Center was closed, ESU did not give a definitive answer about the status of the space.
“We are merging several areas on campus to create a new Student Life Hub as a central space for student engagement, leadership, and connection. We are excited to share more details in the coming weeks,” Larson said in an email.
A lot of the work done under the division, and especially the Intercultural Center, was connecting students to resources and providing support for students and their journey.
Twenty years ago, that same administrative support the division provided was lacking, said Robertson, who graduated from ESU in 2006. Knowing that some of what was built since then will no longer exist, “broke my heart,” Robertson said.
“I think the hard part about doing DEI work is that it is as much about your own lived experiences and you put your emotions and all of these things into it and it’s not just a job, right?” said Robertson. “ And so that’s what makes it so rewarding, but it also makes it really hard to do but also to see go away because I just know how much support is offered to students and employees through that work, and I know the impact of not having it.”
Holt said they feel students who regularly used the Intercultural Center may have to “shoulder more of the burden” to represent themselves and their communities now that they can’t access its services. It’s a burden that “shouldn’t be theirs to carry,” Holt says.
“They’re students, they are there to get their education and to come into their identities and be more of themselves and be comfortable with themselves. And so I don’t want them to feel like they have to suddenly put on the cap of advocate or representative for their identity or community because the Intercultural Center’s gone … That’s why our jobs were there. It’s because we were the people that dedicated our jobs to being representatives for those types of identities,” they said.
For Torres, while there’s sadness, there’s also hope. In his mind, everyone is responsible for community care, not just a singular person or role. There’s hope that the community will come together to provide those resources and support even in the program’s absence. Holt expressed a similar type of sentiment, saying that while it may be tough, students will be okay.
“We’ve lived through (hardship) before, we can live through it again. And even though it really sucks to continually have to live through it as being a part of a generation that really thought things were going to be different by the time we got to an adult age, I think we’ll be okay,” said Holt.
editor’s note: a previous version of this story incorrectly stated the proper name of Emporia State’s Intercultural Center.