The annual LGBTQ+ Health Care Conference, hosted by the IU School of Medicine, was canceled Jan. 29 because of “challenging” timing given state legislation, executive associate dean Mary Dankoski said during a University Faculty Council meeting Tuesday.
“In considering the conference, we thought the timing could be challenging given that there is legislation currently under consideration at the State House that could have a direct impact on this specific work,” Dankoski said. “So, the decision was made collectively by the School of Medicine leadership.”
A wave of anti-diversity, equity and inclusion legislation is making its way out of the White House and Indiana Governor Mike Braun’s office. On a state level, the Indiana House of Representatives is considering Senate Bill 289, which would restrict DEI initiatives in state agencies, state educational institutions and health professional licensing boards — and has the potential to impact life at IU if passed.
During a Q&A portion of Tuesday’s meeting, IU President Pamela Whitten read a question submitted by an IU professor regarding why the conference was canceled, which the university has not yet provided a specific reason for. The professor wrote that if the conference was canceled because of legislation surrounding LGBTQ+ individuals, she would be concerned about the School of Medicine’s ability to properly train its students.
Dankoski responded by saying the School of Medicine is committed to improving health equity for all people in Indiana.
“We’ve not walked back our commitment to advancing health care for all, we’ve not changed our curriculum regarding LGBTQ+ individuals, so all of that curriculum remains,” she said. “At the same time, we can’t ignore the context within which we fulfill our mission and our vision.”
While Senate Bill 289 has not yet taken effect, state universities are already feeling pressure to limit DEI initiatives. Earlier this month, Ball State University canceled its “LGBTQ+ 101” staff training session, directly citing concerns about “Indiana’s current legislative session.”
IU announced the conference’s cancelation to its planning committee members and keynote speakers via email only two days after the committee invited speakers to attend, a source close to the conference told the Indiana Daily Student. Chris Geidner, who was invited to be a keynote speaker, criticized the university’s response.
Dankoski said the School of Medicine acknowledged that “communication could have been better.”
“We wanted to let the dust settle from this legislative session and then revisit the content and the delivery of that content so that we could assess the best way to move forward in the future and do this work,” she said. “We do realize that the communication about the cancelation could have and should have been better, and so we own that, and we know that it triggered a lot of questions. It certainly triggered questions about academic freedom.”
Later in the meeting, Vice President of University Relations Michael Huber said he couldn’t draw a “direct relationship” between the cancelation of IU’s LGBTQ+ conference and Senate Bill 289 because the language of the bill and its applications are still so broad. As the bill makes its way to the State House, Huber said IU would have to press legislators about parts that are “vaguely worded.”
Angela Smith Jones, associate vice president for state relations, also said IU will continue to work with members of the Senate and the House to ensure the university’s interests are reflected in the bill.
For now, it’s unclear how pending legislation, both federally and statewide, will impact the university.
“I can’t emphasize this enough, we’re less than one month into the president’s administration, and so we’re just watching like a hawk these developments as we better understand how the federal agencies are going to implement some of these policies,” Huber said. “I wish I had more answers than that, but that’s where we are now.”
