This week’s Pizza and Politics was put on by the university’s Michael O. Leavitt Center for Politics and Public Service. Centered on education policy, students were invited to share their thoughts on several federal and state issues surrounding the topic.
Presenters Cambria Slaugh and James Chou began by explaining how the United States educational system is set up. The Department of Education was introduced in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter’s administration to “execute education policy and congressional laws.”
Though the Department of Education oversees educational policies, most legislation is made at a state level. The presenters asked the group whether they think the Supreme Court should have more or less influence on public education.
“The Supreme Court should have less because it is not the Supreme Court’s job to legislate what happens,” one participant said. “They can only answer the things that come to them, but sometimes the way that they are answering things is not necessarily what the states actually need to go forward with a better education for students.”
Another student replied, “The Supreme Court has a unique position in the federal government to overturn things that are problematic or to solve those issues. On one hand, maybe they shouldn’t be legislating, but these more local school districts shouldn’t be legislating things that are just wrong.”
Several other issues were discussed from parent influence on public school curriculum to Utah’s education ranking compared to other states. Eventually, Slaugh and Chou brought the removal of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion laws to the conversation, an issue that has been prominent on campus this past school year.
“I believe that getting rid of DEI assumes that everybody has moved past discriminatory practices and I personally don’t believe that is true,” one student stated.
This perspective is shared by many members of the campus community. In fact, just last week the SUU Stop Queer Hate student organization hosted a protest against recent Utah legislation, including H.B. 250 which prohibits the State Board of Education from taking disciplinary action against gender-specific language and H.B. 269 which states that students must be housed in university sanctioned housing according to their assigned sex, as defined by Utah Code Section 68-3-12.5
Many of these frustrations were heightened because of H.B. 261, which was passed in 2024 and bans the use of DEI in higher education.
One attendee shared a different opinion on the matter:
“I think that (removing DEI) as an anti-discrimination policy is technically a good thing — to not have specific funds going to particular groups,” they said. “With DEI, for example, that is group specific. By allowing public funds there, would we then have to have public funds going to … other groups.”
Pizza and Politics events are held every Wednesday at noon in the Leavitt Center, covering various political topics and providing participants with a free slice of pizza. Next week students can discuss SUUSA elections as campaign season begins.
To learn more, check out the center’s website and Instagram.
Author: Heather Turner
Photographers: Heather Turner and Anna Mower
Editor: Anna Mower
news@suunews.net
