Racially Minoritized Graduate Students Navigating the Impacts of State Anti-DEI Laws on Their Experiences in Racial/Ethnic Graduate Student Organizations

This descriptive qualitative study explored how 18 racially minoritized graduate students understood the impacts of proposed or enacted state anti–diversity, equity, and inclusion (anti-DEI) laws on their experiences in racial/ethnic graduate student organizations at public historically and predominately white institutions. Using bidirectional socialization (Perez et al., 2020; Winkle-Wagner et al., 2020) as a lens, findings showed that many, but not all, participants believed that their state’s anti-DEI law impacted their experiences and ultimately their agency within their organizations. While some students did not think their organizations were impacted by the laws, many experienced direct impacts to their organizations’ funding and event planning while also identifying a lack of support from their institutions for navigating these impacts. These findings can help institutions develop better resources and guidance for these organizations to address the impacts of anti-DEI laws.