SEC athletic departments following diversity missions even as DEI offices are eliminated

Colin Cowherd and Jason McIntyre unveil their Big CFB bets heading into Championship weekend, including Oregon facing Penn State for the Big Ten title, Texas battling Georgia for the SEC crown and SMU squaring off against Clemson for the ACC Champ...

Many SEC schools have shuttered their DEI offices in recent years. 

The University of Texas, which plays in the SEC championship game against Georgia on Saturday, is based in a state that has a law in effect to outlaw DEI. Texas governor Greg Abbot signed the law in January, closing DEI offices in all of the state's universities.

There is now almost no trace of any offices or initiatives related to diversity at the University of Texas. The university even released a statement in the aftermath of that law passing, ensuring compliance. 

"The University took necessary measures to reach compliance with the law and UT System policy. Vigilant ongoing efforts are necessary to ensure the University’s continued compliance," the statement read.

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Texas' opponent, Georgia, is one of many of the conference's universities to no longer have a DEI office, but something like it. 

Last August, the University System of Georgia (USG) voted to ban the use of DEI statements for hiring, and colleges and universities in the state were also told to discontinue the use of DEI terminology in teaching training standards. Then, this past November, the USG proposed to take things further with an even stricter policy revision.

Now, "ideological tests, affirmations, and oaths, including diversity statements," will be banned from admissions processes and decisions, according to the latest policy revision.

"The basis and determining factor" for employment