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As a watchdog demands that Idaho’s attorney general launch an investigation into a new anti-DEI law, an attorney for the group exposed how four universities in the state have allegedly schemed to sidestep the law’s provisions.
In April, Idaho enacted the Freedom of Inquiry in Higher Education Act, which took effect in July and prohibits institutions of higher learning from forcing students to enroll in mandatory DEI courses that are unrelated to their field of study. Schools are allowed to apply for exemptions for programs of study that are primarily focused on racial, ethnic or gender studies.
But the Goldwater Institute says schools are already attempting to skirt the new regulations.
“The whole goal of this law is to make it so that no one is forced to take mandatory courses that indoctrinate students with these discriminatory ideologies as a condition of graduation in unrelated fields,” Parker Jackson, a staff attorney at the Goldwater Institute, told Fox News Digital. “So we’re talking about degree programs like social work or counseling or psychology, things that you wouldn’t normally think would involve things like critical theory, race and gender studies, ethnic studies.”
Homemade and hand-painted signs express a variety of viewpoints in a small group of eight adults within a huge crowd at Union Square. Bundled up in heavy coats and hats on a cold winter Presidents Day 2025, these activists support NATO, Ukraine, D.E.I. [Diversity, Equity, Inclusion], and Democracy. They criticize and reject Vladimir Putin and DOGE, Department of Government Efficiency. One sign mocks DOGE as the “Dept of Govt Erasure.” Another urges that [Elon] Musk be deported. Activists argue that many of Trump’s Executive Orders overreach and sometimes vastly exceed the limits of Presidential power. (John Senter/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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The law is meant to ensure that unsuspecting students don’t wind up being indoctrinated by DEI programs when they are simply trying to obtain a degree for which DEI is irrelevant.
But the University of Idaho, Boise State University, Idaho State University and Lewis-Clark State College are skirting this law and applying for exceptions for courses that should not be exempt, according to a Goldwater Institute letter sent to Attorney General Raul Labrador asking him to look into the matter.
The letter also questions a memorandum sent to the schools by the Idaho Board of Education just before the law took effect, explaining the new law to the universities. That memorandum misinterprets the law to allow for more exceptions than intended, according to the letter.
“So, the statute specifically says that the exemptions can only be used for courses, the title of which indicates that they’re targeted towards these racial or gender or ethnic studies,” Jackson explained. “And what the board has did is they’ve gone through, and they’ve essentially tried to delete that portion of the statute and say that if the degree program requirements have these DEI mandates in them, then they can get an exemption for the class.”
In New York City, members of the National Action Network rallied in support of DEI, diversity, equity, and inclusion on August 14, 2025. (Deb Cohn-Orbach/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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According to Jackson, that is a perversion of the law.
“Well, that’s kind of circular. They can’t just avoid the mandate against these requirements by creating the requirements,” said Jackson. “And so, what we’re asking the attorney general to do is to take a look at all of these exemptions that the board has granted across the state at Boise State and Idaho State and University of Idaho — I think Lewis-Clarke College — Lewis-Clarke State College is the other one, and find that these are violations of the Freedom of Inquiry in Higher Education Act.”
The letter also says that the schools now require DEI-related courses in degree programs whose titles do not clearly indicate a primary focus on racial, ethnic or gender studies.
For example, a required course in the sociology program at the University of Idaho is called “Introduction to Inequity and Justice.” The school has received a DEI exemption for the sociology program because of this course and several other elective courses, despite the fact that the degree program, sociology, is not explicitly a race, ethnic or gender studies program.
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People participate in the Boise Pride Festival parade along River Street in Boise, Idaho, on Sept. 7, 2025. (Sarah A. Miller/The Idaho Statesman/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“Stated simply, DEI-related courses may not be mandated unless the title of the degree program (e.g., ethnic studies) clearly establishes that the degree program itself is primarily focused on racial, ethnic, or gender studies,” the letter says. “Only then may the institution require a DEI-related course for completion of the degree program. By omitting the title requirement, the guidance mischaracterizes which programs are eligible for an exemption under the Act, making exemptions available for a much broader category of degree programs.”
The letter ends with a call to action, asking Labrador to investigate the exceptions that have been made, and the memorandum sent by the Board of Education to the schools.
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“Taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook for funding left-wing activism and indoctrination,” said Jackson. “And that’s part of the goal of these laws that are starting to be passed throughout the country is not only protecting students that are unsuspecting — they’re just trying to go get a job and get qualified for their jobs — from this type of political indoctrination, but it’s also protecting taxpayers.”
“Let students go and be social work students and become psychologists and counselors without having this radical, toxic political ideology shoved down their throats.”
The University of Idaho, Lewis-Clark State College and Idaho State University directed Fox News Digital to the Idaho Board of Education.
“The Office of the Idaho State Board of Education will cooperate fully with the Idaho Attorney General’s Office,” a spokesperson for the board told Fox News Digital. “The Office cannot comment further at this time.”
Boise State University did not return a request for comment.