New censorship flap at Weber State prompts author to pull out of speaking appearance

OGDEN — For at least the second time since October, Weber State University officials placed restrictions on what they would allow a guest speaker to say while speaking on campus in light of guidelines and restrictions stemming from HB261.

This time, guest speaker Darcie Little Badger was advised by Weber State officials of a list of “prohibited words and concepts” she apparently would have to avoid in a presentation at the university. Such words included “equity, diversity and inclusion,” “critical race theory” and others, the speaker said.

The author, a member of the Lipan Apache tribe in Texas, ultimately opted not to speak at the Ogden school.

“I will not humor this censorship. It does a disservice to the stories I’m discussing & the audience, who deserve unfettered access to information & conversation,” Little Badger wrote in a social media post. The apparent prohibitions, she continued, seem “to be the university’s extreme attempt to comply with HB261 (Utah).”

Little Badger initially addressed the issue late last month in a series of public statements on social media, and news of the turn of events is now publicly emerging in Utah.

In October, another free speech brouhaha rooted in apparent HB261 rules surfaced at WSU when the organizers of a conference on censorship cancelled the event due to perceived university attempts to censor what could be said at that event.

HB261 — passed by Utah lawmakers in 2024 — prohibits Utah’s public universities from operating diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives geared to traditionally marginalized communities on the grounds that such programming could lead to discrimination against other groups of people.

Weber State didn’t specifically address a series of questions from KSL.com on the Little Badger matter, but said in a statement that the university has been wrestling with the issue of how to balance the requirements of HB261 as they pertain to guest speakers.

“For several months now, Weber State has been carefully reviewing procedures related to guest speakers with a goal to uphold the letter and spirit of HB261 while still championing free speech, academic freedom and fostering a culture where students can explore ideas and engage in spirited discussions,” the university said.

In working with guest speakers, the statement said the university sometimes might provide “information about recent legislation affecting public universities.”

Separately, interim Weber State President Leslie Durham alluded to the issue in a letter to the university community on Friday.

Figuring out how to comply with HB261 “has not been a perfect process,” she said, and the review of the university’s guidelines continues. Geoffrey Landward, commissioner of the Utah System of Higher Education, which helps oversee Utah’s public universities, is aiding in the process.

“The goal of this review and revised approach is to uphold the letter and spirit of the law, 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. This is foundational to the educational experience and to the success of our students,” Durham wrote.

‘Prohibited words and concepts’

In her social media post, Little Badger said the “prohibited words and concepts” provided by Weber State included “equity, diversity and inclusion,” “anti-racism,” “bias, “critical race theory,” “implicit bias,” “oppression,” “intersectionality,” “prohibited discriminatory practices,” “racial privilege” and “promoting stereotypes based on personal identity characteristics.”

She reached out to the university for clarification on the matter, she said in a Bluesky post, and was told the list applied to her.

“TBH, I don’t know much about the law. However, I know my heart, and I will not censor concepts such as intersectionality and diversity (even in an indirect way). I’d rather lose work,” Little Badger wrote. Intersectionality, broadly speaking, refers to the varied elements that make up individual identities, like race, gender, class and sexuality.

KSL has submitted a public records request to the university for a copy of the sheet provided to the author, who was to have spoken at the university’s Annual Native Symposium on Nov. 20. A copy of the sheet WSU provided to Little Badger, which cites HB261 as the source of the varied words and concepts, was included in a recent Salt Lake Tribune report.

Richard Price, a professor of political science at Weber State University who focuses his research on free speech and censorship, among other things, blasted the university’s apparent prohibitions on Little Badger. Price had been one of the driving forces behind the planned censorship conference last October and a critic of apparent university moves to rein in what could be said at the event.

“To censor a speaker and order them not to reference or engage with concepts like ‘bias’ or ‘oppression’ is a betrayal of the very concept of critical thought and education. It is instead turning the university into a conservative indoctrination mill,” Price said in response to a KSL query.

Price maintains that HB261 shouldn’t apply to guest speakers.

“A guest speaker is not offering a required training or speaking on behalf of the university — no one in their right mind would think they were doing either. Thus, the law does not apply,” Price wrote. The prohibition on addressing certain concepts “violates the very spirit that supposedly animates laws like HB261 — the promotion of diversity of thought.”

Furthermore, Price views the creation of the list of prohibited words and concepts in partisan terms.

“In my expert opinion, this list is an attempt to avoid offending powerful Republican legislators who oppose education around racism, sexism, homophobia or similar concepts. They believe that universities should present a narrative of the United States as fundamentally just and fair to all citizens with evidence of abuse of rights and liberties to be downplayed,” Price said.

“In other words, public universities like Weber State are to become organs of conservative propaganda.”

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