by Vinny Porco
The University of Louisville Board of Trustees approved changes to university documents on June 26 to comply with Kentucky House Bill 4, a bill some call the “Anti-DEI” bill.
The Cardinal attended Thursday’s meeting, which lasted just over four hours.
The bulk of the documents being updated were bylaws and policies for the university’s various individual colleges. Other documents included the U of L Redbook and Strategic Plan.
Amended documents were delivered to the Board of Trustees for approval on Thursday after a long process that led up to the June 30 deadline. Documents were first edited within work groups comprised of members of specific colleges and departments before being moved through the Faculty Senate. With their blessing, the amended sets of bylaws moved to a Board of Trustees committee formed in May.
The Ad Hoc House Bill 4 Implementation Committee began work on May 20, endorsing or amending the already-amended documents in preparation for the June 30 deadline.
Over the course of nine meetings, committee members Kevin Ledford, Allie Rose Phillips, Sherrill Zimmerman, Al Cornish and committee chair Eugene Mueller reviewed the document changes. The Cardinal was present at several of these meetings in June.
Committee meetings were also frequented by recently-appointed trustee Sadiqa Reynolds. At meetings, Reynolds frequently voiced concerns about the potential of haste and overcompliance while also reflecting an overall disdain for House Bill 4.
Reynolds said at the June 10 committee meeting, “Where I’m coming from is that there’s no person who does not engage in this higher education and really understand that impact that they’re having on us and on our professors and what they’re doing to the mindset and the culture and the energy of the place and how this might impact the mission of the University of Louisville.”
Several committee members concurred with Reynolds, with Cornish saying in a June 12 meeting, “It seems like we’re just totally whitewashing all of this and trying to eliminate anything that has to do with race.”
Committee chair Mueller heard these concerns and shared some of his own regarding the short window of time for work given by the bill. When interviewed by The Cardinal following Thursday’s meeting, he said, “I’m pleased that the process went well and had good input through the shared governance process, and that we managed it get it done in the brief time allowed by the law. However, I can certainly acknowledge how painful this is for many members of the community.”
Mueller thanked Reynolds for her outside input during committee meetings.
Trustee Sadiqa Reynolds tunes in virtually to Thursday’s Board of Trustees Meeting.
Once finished by the committee, document changes were presented by Mueller at the meeting Thursday, the most notable being the adoption of a compulsory “Viewpoint Neutrality Statement” and striking language surrounding Affirmative Action.
Also among these changes came new university definitions of “diversity” and “equity.” Notably, the Ad Hoc Committee recommended that, despite being approved by the Board of Trustees, the revised Personnel Document for the College of Business be revisited by work groups in the Fall of 2025 due to a mass removal of the word “diversity” that they attribute to the work groups not having access to the proposed definitions.
There was no discussion by the Board of Trustees regarding the Consent Agenda items presented by the Ad Hoc Committee or other committees.
Penalties for noncompliance with Kentucky House Bill 4 include possible cuts to the university’s state funding. U of L receives 28 percent of its general funds from the State of Kentucky as outlined in the university’s newly-adopted 2026 Operating Budget.
A full list of changes to university documents can be found within the agenda of Thursday’s meeting listed here: BOT Agenda 6/26
Photos by Vinny Porco // The Louisville Cardinal
