On the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 30, the ripples of a state bill passed in May were felt on campus.
A group of students attended the Student Government Association’s Undergraduate Senate meeting out of protest for proposed changes to its bylaws. The proposed changes, written by Speaker of the Senate Campbell Butler and presented by Sen. Niya Angelova, would alter language in section 8, paragraphs B and C. This section outlines the purpose of the Senate’s Access & Engagement Committee. The proposals removed the word “equity” in paragraph B and the phrase “of all backgrounds and identities” in paragraph C.
On May 13, 2025, the Tennessee General Assembly passed, and Gov. Bill Lee signed, House Bill 923, the Dismantling DEI Departments Act. The bill prohibits entities from “maintaining or authorizing an office or department that promotes or requires discriminatory preferences in an effort to increase diversity, equity, or inclusion.” A public university such as UT would be included as an entity within the bill, which further states that all policies declared by such a department will be considered void.
Sen. Angelova clarified that these amendments were proposed voluntarily, by Butler.
“These amendments were born from Speaker Butler, who then received advice from university administration,” Angelova said. “However at no point was it communicated from any member of administration that these amendments would be required of SGA. So, we can keep that in mind as we go about voting today.”
Sen. Angelova explained what prompted the proposed bylaw changes, saying the university could refuse implementation of future bills created by SGA.
“The concern here is that by choosing not to amend the bylaws to reflect the language that is in university policy, they (the university) would always have a reason to shut down bills that come out of it. … This would be a recurring reason for them to shut down legislation and not implement it,” Angelova said.
As explained by a member of SGA’s executive board, if SGA fails to remove that particular verbiage from the Senate bylaws, it jeopardizes its ability to implement any changes, no matter the topic.
If amendments are not made, removing the words that describe programs which the state now finds unlawful, the university may be forced to cease or limit coordination with SGA.
Some senators who attended spoke of their plans to vote against the proposed amendments.
“I’m here to go and vote against, and try to hopefully convince the rest of the Senate to vote against the removal of the wording of ‘diversity and equity,’” Sen. Hezekiah McDonald, who was representing the Tickle College of Engineering, said. “I would love SGA to actually go and listen to the people of this campus. This campus as a whole, especially minority students, are tired of the university going and erasing this language because through erasing this language, it seems like they’re trying to erase us.”
Student Body President Chase Darwin gave a statement to the senate on Tuesday evening.
“Earlier in the semester, the University of Tennessee clarified its mission for the work of access and engagement across campus. Access and engagement is focused on academic access, community partnerships, and student success based on merit, not DEI itself,” Darwin said.
Chase Darwin addresses the crowd during the Student Government Association meeting, Sept. 30, 2025.
Darwin referenced Chancellor Donde Plowman and President Randy Boyd’s work to bring UT as a whole into compliance with the new law.
“The truth of the matter is that right now, we are in a high-pressure, high-temperature environment in the country. Our role in SGA is to understand these laws, work within them, and continue advancing student success in ways that are fully compliant,” Darwin said.
While Darwin acknowledged that the amendments to the bylaws may make SGA’s work look different, none of it will stop SGA from continuing its mission of ensuring all students have access to an incredible student experience.
Tuesday’s Senate meeting experienced gridlock over the proposed changes, as senators exchanged arguments for and against the changes. The debate took nearly two hours and was the predominant focus of the assembly.
After two failed attempts to move to a vote on the amendments and one failed attempt to table the bylaws, the senate successfully tabled the discussion on the fourth attempt. That was not before section 8, paragraph B’s verbiage was successfully changed, replacing “equity” with “accessibility.”
The other amendments on paragraph C will have to be revisited by the Senate at its next meeting in two weeks.
The debate over the word “equity” and the phrase “of all backgrounds and identities” drew a crowd of students objecting to the change. Those objecting included regular members of the student body and Senators in SGA.
“We believe this is at odds to what UT should be for students,” Sen. William Bricker, economics sophomore and president of UTK College Democrats, said. “We believe UT should be for students of all backgrounds.”
Freshman Jack Dempsey holds a sign in protest during the Student Government Association meeting, Sept. 30, 2025.
Bricker accused SGA of quickly folding under political pressure.
“It seems they’re making these changes as a sort of preemptive surrender to the general political shifts that have occurred as a result of the 2024 elections. It seems the university wants to take the least hostile route possible to the changes as a result of what we’re saying on the national level from the Trump administration.”
During the town hall section of the meeting, which allows members of the student body to speak freely, one of the protestors spoke about his qualms.
“I implore every senator here, please look inside yourselves, not from out there, not to Washington, not to Nashville,” public affairs freshman Jack Dempsey said. “Look inside yourselves and think about what this means. Removing equity would remove the heart of what we stand for as a people.”
Jack Sharman, a freshman studying public affairs, explained that his personal identity drove him to attend today’s meeting.
“I really hope this doesn’t go through because as a Jewish student, I found this campus really welcoming and I hope that they don’t try to take that away because this has been an amazing campus,” Sharman said.
Sharman expressed hope that the SGA wouldn’t adopt the proposed changes.
The debate over the proposed changes in the bylaws will continue at the Senate’s next meeting.
