Both College Bowl Competitors Spent Millions On Six-Figure Salaries For DEI Bureaucrats

The University of Texas (UT) and The Ohio State University (OSU) have both funneled millions of dollars into diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, a recent report revealed.

The two universities are set to face off in the Cotton Bowl game Friday, the game that will determine which team moves on to the NCAA Championships on Jan. 20. While the schools each boast lofty football programs, both taxpayer-funded institutions are guilty of spending millions of dollars on the salaries of DEI bureaucrats and accepting millions in foreign funds from the likes of China and Saudi Arabia, an OpenTheBooks investigation revealed.

UT’s 2023 payroll listed 93 people working in the school’s DEI office, the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement (DDCE), and another 23 people in other DEI roles, according to OpenTheBooks. Their combined salaries costed the school nearly $9.8 million in pay, the equivalent of more than 1,800 students’ tuition.

In light of a Texas law passed in 2023 banning DEI in higher 🎓Education, UT rebranded its office to the Division of Campus and Community Engagement and fired nearly 60 employees in DEI roles the following year, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

The university’s highest paid DEI official in 2023 made $439,320, and another 28 employees earned more than $100,000, OpenTheBooks found. Over $381,000 went toward DEI initiatives in 2023, such as staff diversity training and unspecified payments to organizations like the Equal Justice Center, which provides free legal services to illegal immigrants, the Austin Justice Coalition,