Weber State University says it will be “more nuanced” in how it adheres to Utah’s ban on higher education diversity initiatives after critics accused the school of going beyond what is required when it gave a guest speaker a list of banned words.
The Ogden school faced scrutiny last week when Darcie Little Badger, a member of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas, spoke out about how she felt compelled to cancel her planned speaking appearance during Weber State’s annual Native symposium over the list of “prohibited words and concepts.” Included among them: equity, diversity and inclusion (DEI), anti-racism, bias, oppression and intersectionality.
The list specifically cited HB261, which is Utah’s anti-DEI law that passed last year. Under the measure, schools are prohibited from providing any services that cater to a specific identity group and can’t host offices or positions with the words “diversity, equity and inclusion” in the name.
Weber State said it was complying with the law when it included the list of banned words on its guest-speaking agreement.
But based on the language of the law, HB261 does not appear to extend to guest speakers at public campuses. The relatively restrictive law actually encourages schools to invite speakers to “promote viewpoint diversity,” and staff are required to attend training on free speech.
It also states the prohibitions apply only to “policy, procedure, practice, program, office, initiative or required training.” That suggests that a guest speaker — as long as students are not required to attend — can speak on any topic.
The lawmaker who ran the measure, Rep. Katy Hall, R-South Ogden, has not responded to The Salt Lake Tribune’s requests for comment about the university’s interpretation of the law.
Little Badger had been invited to speak at Weber State on Nov. 20, along with the two other women who together edited “Beyond the Glittering World,” a new anthology of Indigenous feminist stories. She questioned how she could speak about her life and work while avoiding the listed topics, calling it an “extreme attempt” to follow the law.
“How are we supposed to talk about the reality of being Native without talking about these words?” she asked in a phone call with The Tribune last week.
(Kenny Goldberg) Author and editor Darcie Little Badger, who is Lipan Apache.
PEN America, a national nonprofit that champions free expression, echoed her criticism in a statement last week that condemned the school’s actions as “blatant censorship.”
“Weber State’s overreach deprives students of the chance to learn from diverse perspectives,” added Kristen Shahverdian, PEN America’s program director for campus free speech.
Weber State’s interim president, Leslie Durham, sent a campuswide message late last week acknowledging The Tribune’s reporting about Little Badger’s cancelation.
Durham wrote the school has been working since HB261’s passage and implementation to “understand the law and how it applies to various aspects of our university,” according to a copy of her message shared with The Tribune.
“This has not been a perfect process,” she wrote. “We knew there would be a season of learning among Utah’s various institutions, and we anticipated needing to make adjustments along the way. We are learning from early and well-intentioned efforts at working within this new framework.”
(Utah System of Higher Education via Priscilla Grover) Pictured is Leslie Durham, who will step in as the interim president of Weber State University on Monday, Nov. 11, 2025.
She said the school will work with leadership at the overarching Utah System of Higher Education to review its policy, including changes for guest speakers.
“The goal of this review and revised approach is to uphold the letter and spirit of the law,” Durham added, “but also to ensure we remain fiercely committed to free speech, academic freedom, and fostering an environment where everyone at WSU feels welcome to express their thoughts, engage different viewpoints, and learn from one another.”
Little Badger’s appearance was not the first time Weber has faced heat for its interpretation of HB261.
The school recently scheduled its annual Unity Conference that was supposed to include conversations about censorship. Organizers said they canceled when school officials said they would have to censor some of the speakers’ material because of the anti-DEI law.
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