Passed
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Kentucky Senate
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Lead sponsor
AN ACT relating to postsecondary institutions.Create a new section of KRS Chapter 164 to define terms; provide that a student or employee of a public postsecondary education institution shall not be penalized, discriminated against, or receive any adverse treatment due to the individual's refusal to support or endorse any divisive concept; provide that a student or employee of a public postsecondary education institution shall not be required to endorse a specific ideology or political viewpoint to be eligible for hiring, contract renewal, tenure, promotion, or graduation and prohibit an institution from inquiring into the individual's political or social viewpoints; provide that any person aggrieved by a violation of this Act has a cause of action against the institution for damages and costs of no less than $1,000 and no more than $100,000 per violation; waive sovereign, governmental, and qualified immunity; require the job duties of any individual employed in a diversity, equity, and inclusion role to include the promotion of intellectual diversity; provide that nothing in the section shall be interpreted to infringe upon designated rights of an institution's ability to comply with state or federal law or accreditation standards; require each public postsecondary education institution to conduct a survey in 2025 and 2027 of the institution's students and employees to assess the campus climate with regard to diversity of thought and the respondents' comfort level in speaking freely on campus, regardless of political affiliation or ideology.
