BOISE, Idaho — In an email to students and staff on Friday, the University of Idaho administration said they are now holding off from closing offices part of its Equity and Diversity Unit (EDU).
This includes the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Black and African American Cultural Center, the Women's Center and the LGBTQ+ Office.
A copy of the email was shared with KTVB.
"Because the university does not want to act too quickly or take actions that do not meet the expectations of our board, we have not and will not move forward with the closure of any units until we can be sure of such alignment," administrators wrote in the email.
The University of Idaho (UI) refers to a resolution that the Idaho State Board of Education introduced Thursday addressing DEI. The resolution makes the directive to in part "maintain equal opportunity for all students regardless of personal identity characteristics."
Officials at that meeting said that the changes are not yet in effect.
UI administrators added in their email that the state board "is asking for further conversations with university leadership."
Although the university is now claiming they don't want to "act too quickly," that wasn't the case at the beginning of the week.
U of I students told KTVB that Monday the university told students and staff it's closing EDU offices and taking "presentative measures" of resolutions or bills what could be passed by the state board or lawmakers in the upcoming legislative session.
KTVB spoke to students at the University of Idaho Thursday, getting reactions about the announcement of offices closing. Students said they were told EDU offices would close Dec. 14.
In Friday's letter, the university did not indicate when a final decision would be made.
Idaho State University also recently announced they would also be restructuring their DEI offices. KTVB does not have any further information about ISU's DEI offices at this time.
For a more details regarding DEI in Idaho, visit our in depth story here.