Students rushed between classes on a late September day at the University of Wyoming. Some sported jackets or hoodies to stave off the morning cold, but many were down to T-shirts as the sun warmed the air.  The calm on campus belied the controversies swirling around Wyoming’s lone four-year university. This winter, hard-line Wyoming lawmakers took aim at multiple university programs that they considered divisive or out of step with the state’s politics. That ultimately led to the closure of the school’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the conversion of the Multicultural Affairs Office into the Pokes Center for Community Resources. WyoFile talked to a few dozen students to gauge their reaction to the changes and the university’s handling of the situation. The vast majority either didn’t know about the changes, didn’t feel personally impacted or said they didn’t know enough to comment. The few who did talk focused more on their experience outside those spaces. Allison Bromley, a sophomore studying double elementary and special education, said she appreciated the emails and regular communication from the university on actions it’s taking.  Freshman J.P. Spilotro noted that he appreciates the diversity on campus, though it’s different from his home in Arizona. He also felt UW is supporting diversity at the right level.  “As far as diversity, equity, inclusion, I feel like things are pretty good here,” he said.  Alex Huss, a junior who’s studying zoology, felt that DEI resources for students have never been particularly easy to find, and that — even once students discovered those spaces — it could feel like only certain people belonged. It’s not surprising that many of the students walking across campus weren’t aware of changes involving the Multicultural Affairs or DEI offices. Only a fraction of students likely utilized those services. Still, there are off-campus efforts to find new ways to support those who may feel less welcome at UW following the changes. Targeting DEI During this year’s budget session, the Legislature cut UW’s biannual block grant by the same amount the university spent on the DEI Office. Lawmakers also forbid the university from spending state dollars on DEI efforts, though they didn’t define what that meant. The state is UW’s largest funding source.  In the wake of those decisions, the UW Board of Trustees voted to shutter the DEI office while attempting to retain many of its programs and all staff, arguing that most of what happened there didn’t involve the exclusionary behaviors lawmakers sought to root out. That included complying with federal regulations including the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Still, university President Ed Seidel said there would be ongoing reviews of programs across campus to make sure they don’t discriminate or exclude, which would make them ineligible for state funds.  In August, the university announced that it would be refashioning the decades-old Office Of Multicultural Affairs into the Polk Resource Center, changing job descriptions of people working there. It also transitioned the Poke Pride Center into a clothing and resources closet.  As of Sept. 19, Seidel said he wasn’t aware of additional program changes to come from DEI reviews, beyond those already mentioned.  Members of PFLAG Laramie, Laramie Pride Fest and the Shepard Symposium on Social Justice walk in the University of Wyoming’s Homecoming parade on Sept. 18, 2024. (Maggie Mullen/WyoFile) Restoring resources Just a few blocks from UW’s campus is the nonprofit Laramie Plains Civic Center. It’s a large, historic school building now home to dozens of offices and community spaces, along with a coffee shop.  Executive Director Jessica Brauer has led community discussions on what’s needed in Laramie in lieu of the DEI and Multicultural Affairs office closures.  “Our mission as an organization is to just serve as a gathering place for the community at large, and to provide safe and accessible space for people to gather and connect with one another and hopefully grow from those connections,” she said.  There’s still considerable confusion about the changes, according to Brauer.. That includes who to blame for UW’s office closures, exactly what resources still exist and what’s needed next for those who used those offices previously.  Still, the community sessions at the civic center highlighted some specific needs, Brauer said, and many are continuing to discuss how to establish a space for students to feel welcome if they no longer feel that way at UW. That may range from LGBTQ+ to international to Native students, she said.  “How do we protect these people, but also, how do we keep our jobs while we do that?”Jessica Brauer, Laramie Plains Civic Center “The teams that work with those folks, for those folks, I think a lot of them feel like they no longer can support the people that they want to support,” she said. “How do we protect these people, but also, how do we keep our jobs while we do that?” The civic center has faced its own challenges with making groups in the community feel welcome, including having its pride flags stolen.  “I perhaps naively hung these pride flags thinking, ‘Oh, the community knows that everybody’s welcome here,’” Brauer said.  The queer population is part of the fabric of Laramie and her facility, she said, “and not only are they welcome here, but they make it better.”  “And so I think when those flags started getting removed routinely, I was really surprised and disappointed,” she said. “I think it points to just a larger hatred that’s happening in the community, in the state, in the nation.” Many pride flags were held high Saturday during the University of Wyoming homecoming parade, where groups including Laramie PrideFest, Shepard Symposium on Social Justice, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ and PFLAG Laramie all marched together. Part of the reason the groups joined up was to demonstrate support for those who feel less welcome amid the rise in anti-gay animus in Wyoming, according to PFLAG Laramie President Katie Morgan. PFLAG is the largest and oldest LGBTQ+ ally organization in the country, Morgan said, and in Laramie, most members are UW alumni.  Morgan has seen firsthand what it means for society to turn its back on its LGBTQ+ members, as critics of the changes allege. Her first husband came out to her when he was diagnosed with AIDS, from which he later died. For her, the local PFLAG group was supportive and helpful. She later worked with AIDS care in Texas and Colorado.  “I saw firsthand what discrimination and what misunderstanding and lack of education can do to a community,” she said. The post DEI, multicultural affairs closures draw little attention from most University of Wyoming students appeared first on WyoFile .