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In North Carolina, the state is transferring $2.3 million of spending at its flagship state university from its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) program to public safety and policing.

In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed a law closing all DEI offices at state-funded colleges and universities.

The state of Florida, often viewed as a rival by New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R-N.H.), eliminated all positions associated with DEI in its state college system last month.

And yet the Granite State continues to spend millions on DEI employees and programs in the University of New Hampshire system, which includes UNH, the Franklin Pierce School of Law, Plymouth State University, and Keene State College.

Why?

“That’s a good question,” said state Sen. Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry), currently the frontrunner to take over the top spot in the Senate if the GOP holds its majority in November. (Senate President Jeb Bradley is retiring.)

The premise of DEI policies is that American institutions like universities are inherently racist or bigoted toward racial, sexual, and cultural minorities. Therefore, judging individuals based on merit is a mistake and should be rejected. Instead, hiring decisions should be based on identity politics in pursuit of collective justice.

“The University of Central Florida, in its ‘Inclusive Faculty Hiring’ guide, described merit in faculty hiring as a ‘narrative myth’ and advised employees to avoid using it in job descriptions and hiring materials,” DEI critic Chris Rufo wrote in The New York Times. “The guide also advocated explicit quotas of ‘minoritized’ groups in its hiring practices.”

Funding for the various DEI programs in New Hampshire’s higher education institutions is estimated at between $6 and $9 million, though that spending is scattered throughout various budget line items, making it hard to track. House Majority Leader Rep. Jason Osborne (R-Auburn) said the lack of transparency surrounding DEI is a problem.

“Members have long been asking for a breakdown of DEI funding for the University Systems and have yet to receive an adequate answer. Hearing that UNH alone spends roughly $2 million on DEI, clearly intervention is required. We look forward to addressing this in the state budget next year,” Osborne said.

And the timing may be fortuitous.

Washington State University Provost and Executive Vice President Elizabeth Chilton will take over the reins at UNH this summer, following the retirement of current President James Dean. Sen. Dan Innis (R-Bradford), who teaches at UNH, said this is the perfect time to reexamine the system’s DEI programming and funding.

Chilton, who spent 16 years at UMass Amherst, was a featured speaker at the 2021 Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice Summit at Washington State University, where she touted her work on DEIJ.

“One of the large ways that I have leaned in, in the past 15 months, is through the initiation of our faculty cluster hire in racism and social inequality [specializations] in the Americas,” Chilton said.

“Given the profile of the new UNH president, I think it is highly likely that we in the Senate will take action next year, perhaps as a part of the budget,” Innis said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been an outspoken critic of taxpayer-funded DEI programs, and he helped usher through the higher education reforms that ended them.

“DEI is toxic and has no place in our public universities,” DeSantis said last month. “I’m glad that Florida was the first state to eliminate DEI, and I hope more states follow suit.”

But Sununu, who often touts the Granite State’s edge over Florida on issues of fiscal responsibility and personal freedom, is much more sanguine about DEI spending in his state’s budget.

Asked about the actions of North Carolina and Florida and whether New Hampshire should do the same, Sununu told NHJournal, “Obviously, any program — DEI included — would be looked at to say, ‘Okay, do we need to be funding this? Are the dollars appropriate? What are we getting for the return?’ We haven’t had any of those issues here in the state. None of that has been brought to my attention.

“If there was a concern, I would definitely look at it. But nothing has been brought to our attention. I’m simply saying those programs seem to be on a decent path, I suppose,” Sununu said.

However, several UNH trustees who spoke to NHJournal — on and off the record — said it was time to review DEI policies and spending, particularly as the college system is cutting staff and closing programs. On background, some trustees expressed concern that there is no scrutiny of DEI spending or its results.

New Hampshire Agriculture Commissioner and University System of New Hampshire trustee Shawn Jasper, however, willingly voiced the concern shared by many that the DEI programs operating at the state schools are ill-defined, with vague goals that can’t be measured in a meaningful way.

“There are several trustees concerned about what the goal is and how we measure the success of the program,” Jasper said.

According to Jasper, the DEI programs at UNH are less about addressing deep-seated societal problems and more about a marketing strategy. Nearly 60 percent of UNH students now come from outside New Hampshire, paying higher tuition rates than in-state students. DEI is part of the package advertised to the out-of-state student population, he said.

“I don’t have a problem funding those things if there’s an articulated problem that needs to be addressed. That doesn’t seem to be the case, it seems like they have to have it to compete with the out-of-state student market,” Jasper said.

If UNH is going to keep its DEI program, Jasper wants to see it deployed in such a way that it can be quantified.

“If we’re going to have programs like this at our universities — and I’m not saying they are not needed — we need to be very clear what we are trying to solve and I’m not sure, in New Hampshire, that’s been articulated,” Jasper said.

Keene will soon be home to the U.S. headquarters of biotech firm Detact Diagnostics, a Netherlands-based life-sciences company that produces bacterial- and viral-detection solutions.

The expansion is in partnership with the Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship, which provides resources for entrepreneurs and companies in the state’s rural Monadnock Region, and Keene State College, which will provide space for Detact Diagnostics to create a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment or (CLIA)-certified laboratories as well as an expansive internship and employment program.

“I am happy to welcome Detact to New Hampshire’s growing life science community,” said BEA Commissioner Taylor Caswell. “In addition to the world-class technology being researched and implemented in our state, this expansion and partnership with Keene State College further demonstrate the value of our ‘triangle’ strategy (employer-academic center-government) to generate high tech investment statewide.

CLIA-certified laboratories are federally regulated sites that test human specimens to diagnose, prevent and treat disease. The lab space to be developed at Keene State College will be used for Detact Diagnostics’ on-site bacterial-detection platforms, which enable healthcare providers and food-processing professionals to detect the presence of viruses and bacteria and allow for fast, affordable, and precise treatment.

The patented Detact Diagnostics® platform technology called VIPER® (Visualization by Infrared Peptide Reaction) involves the immediate release of a quenched Near Infrared (NIR) molecule from its peptide bond after contact with a specific bacteria/enzyme, which emits NIR-light (NIRL). The amount of light released determines the presence of bacteria or viruses. Due to its speed, precision, and sensitivity, even with very diluted samples, the potential of this technology is superior compared to other testing products.

The company plans to hire Keene State College students for academic internship opportunities each semester and will roll out multiple hiring incentive programs in partnership with the institution.

“With its easily accessible networking opportunities compared to larger markets, plus its life-sciences ecosystem and the support from Hannah Grimes, New Hampshire is the ideal destination for our U.S. expansion,” said Joost Gazendam, CEO of Detact Diagnostics. “From its proximity to the Manchester and Nashua areas to its affordability, quality of life, and community connectivity, this rural region offers endless benefits that will allow us to continue to grow our company, educate a new generation of professionals and deploy life-changing technology.”

The Granite State’s life science and medical device sector, which includes over 600 companies, employs over 7,000 people, and contributes close to $6 billion to the state’s GDP, is one of the top three leading drivers of economic growth. Medicine manufacturing was the number one sector for job growth in 2019.

The Detact Diagnostics announcement comes on the heels of last month’s news that Novocure, a global oncology company headquartered in Europe, broke ground on its new Portsmouth facility–a $9 million investment into the state’s life-science sector.

When Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders held their respective rallies at the University of New Hampshire this past year, Joshua Fox and other members of the UNH College Republicans wanted to stand outside the venue, hold signs, and protest.

When they were protesting, a police officer approached them and told them they needed to move to a “free speech zone” because they could potentially cause some safety problems. Fox, a sophomore at the public university, said they were forced into a small area to carry out the rest of their protest, farther away from where people were waiting to enter the rally.

“A diversity of opinions is important to college,” he testified during a House Education Committee hearing in Concord on Tuesday. “I believe every American should have their right to speak their opinion.”

UNH says presidential candidates and their Secret Service teams are allowed to put some policies in place that the university would not normally do.

But Fox said he still believes universities and colleges sometimes go too far in stifling free speech.

He supports House Bill 477 that would limit “the ability of an institution within the university system or community college system to restrict a student’s right to speak in a public forum.”

The bill states that no university or college that receives state funds “shall restrict a student’s right to speak, including verbal speech, holding a sign, or distributing fliers or other materials, in a public forum.”

Rep. Eric Schleien, R-Hudson, is the prime sponsor of the bill, which has five other cosponsors on it — all Republicans. But he said this bill shouldn’t be a partisan bill.

“The broader principle is if I am a student at a public university or college, I shouldn’t have to ask people for permission to hand out a flyer,” Schleien said.

He is referring to UNH’s policy on students needing a permit to “distribute literature” and for “outdoor assemblies.”

“Individual students and non-students who wish to solicit for contributions, distribute literature…and engage in sequential, incidental, brief and transitory verbal interactions with passersby on the sidewalks and in the parking lots on campus must first obtain a permit from the University of New Hampshire Police Department,” states Section 23.2 of UNH’s administrative rules and regulations.

That’s where Joe Cohen, legislative and policy director of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), has a problem.

He doesn’t believe students should have to get a permit to assemble a protest or pass out flyers to passersby. He also said having the police in charge of the permitting process is a problem.

“We’re not really changing the law in anyway,” he said. “We’re just changing the mechanism to give students the power to exercise their First Amendment rights.”

According to FIRE, most public colleges and universities in the Granite State do not have a high “speech code rating.”

Only Plymouth State College has a “green light” rating — when a college does not “seriously imperil speech.”

UNH and Dartmouth College received a “yellow light” rating. That’s when an institution’s policies “restrict a more limited amount of protected expression or, by virtue of their vague wording, could too easily be used to restrict protected expression.”

Keene State College received a “red light” rating, which “clearly and substantially restricts freedom of speech.”

Cohen criticized the state’s college and university system for not having uniform free speech policies. He believes this bill will help fill that gap.

Reports of free speech violations on college campuses have reached national media outlets in the past year. One of the most recent incidents was at Kellogg Community College in Michigan where members of the Young Americans for Liberty chapter are suing the school after they were arrested in September for passing out pocket-sized copies of the U.S. Constitution without administrative permission.

While no incidents like that have been reported in New Hampshire, the Granite State public universities have seen an increase in hate crimes in the past year. A swastika was burned into the ceiling of a Keene State College dorm and at UNH. President Mark Huddleston said several students and staff had experienced harassment or threats.

Educators on New Hampshire college campuses have been trying to have an open dialogue with students about where freedom of expression ends and hate speech begins.

But Karyl Martin, assistant general counsel for UNH, said the new bill on free speech could be seen as redundant since students are already allowed freedom of speech in the First Amendment and some restrictions exist to keep students safe.

“The safety and health concerns are real,” she said. “The permitting notice allows them [the university] to be flexible to needs of the students.”

Lawmakers were also critical of the law, asking if there were any limits to free speech on college campuses.

Schleien said the courts would ultimately decide what limits exist when they interpret the law.

But Martin said it’s difficult to legislate what are reasonable restrictions.

“It also puts the expense of litigating these issues on the taxpayers when they go to court,” she said. “It would ultimately end up on them and the students.”

THE EDELBLUT WILD CARD

This isn’t the first time a bill like this appeared before the committee. In the last legislative session, former Rep. Frank Edelblut, R-Windham, introduced a similar bill (House Bill 1561) that ultimately didn’t make it out of committee.

Republican gubernatorial candidates Executive Councilor Chris Sununu, right, and state Rep. Frank Edelblut shake hands during a news conference in front of the Statehouse Wednesday Sept. 14, 2016 in Concord, N.H. Edelblut conceded the race for the Republican nomination for governor after Sununu won by fewer than 1,000 votes. He will run against his Democratic primary winner fellow Executive Councilor Colin Van Ostern. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

The main differences between the two pieces of legislation are that the 2016 bill included a clause for “spontaneous and contemporaneous” demonstration. Cohen said he would prefer that to be in the current legislation, but UNH says that could lead to more costs.

Last year, the committee referred the legislation for interim study to look more at what the cost would be for the public university and college systems.

They claimed that the law could increase costs due to litigations and a change in their current permitting system, including additional funds for police officers for those spontaneous protests.

The bill was not recommended for future legislation.

Now, without the spontaneous clause, maybe the bill has a fighting chance. Especially, with the Edelblut wild card.

Republican Gov. Chris Sununu recently nominated Edelblut, who also came in a close second to Sununu in the Republican gubernatorial primary last year, to be the next state education commissioner. As education commissioner, he helps set the tone of the department and implement policy for K-12 education, as well as higher education, which includes the state universities and colleges.

His nomination is already controversial since he doesn’t come from an education background. But now that it’s likely he will be approved by the Republican-controlled Executive Council, Edelblut could help push this legislation forward. After all, he was the one who first proposed it last year.

With Edelblut in Sununu’s ear, he could give this bill a nudge forward in the Legislature.

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