The Effects of DEI Office Bans on Mental Health of College Students

The Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors (AUCCCD) acknowledges the need to address concerns expressed about the potential impact of anti-DEI laws targeting programs and curriculum at colleges and universities. The history of AUCCCD extends 75 years, we are the largest organization of campus mental health leaders, and our members serve on campuses across the globe and have diverse perspectives and backgrounds. Though longitudinal data on the effects of anti-DEI legislation is still pending, our organization consistently notes four problematic areas that tend to generalize across various anti-DEI laws that have been passed.

1) Negative impact on education – With the elimination of certain scholarships, internships, curriculum, and program funding, anti-DEI laws have created potential barriers for a significant number of students to access education and future employment. These barriers are obviously distressing and likely to have long-term consequences on the lives of diverse students and university campuses.

2) Language in many anti-DEI bills prevent treatment – Many anti-DEI laws prohibit activities that provide “differential treatment” to students. Given the well-documented presence of health care discrepancies among diverse populations, health care providers have an ethical imperative to provide differential and exclusive treatment to targeted groups. The positive outcomes of these differential treatments have been widely demonstrated. The clinical presentations of many disorders often vary based on gender, race, and culture, etc., meaning that anti-DEI initiatives severely limit the delivery of beneficial health care services to diverse groups.

3) Preventing treatment that is responsive to clinical need – Anti-DEI laws often prohibit targeting a certain ethnicity, which, in turn, prevents counseling centers from providing outreach exclusive to certain communities thereby placing limitations on targeted care for students in need based upon socio-political events.

4) Impact of student help-seeking – Individuals with diverse identities are at higher risk for mental health concerns and have traditionally underutilized health care services. Offices providing targeted and differential services to individuals who hold these diverse identities are a primary referral source for accessing campus health care services. In states with anti-DEI laws, this primary referral source is now gone. Furthermore, health providers are prohibited from designing exclusive programs to encourage these students to access services.

AUCCCD urges politicians, university administrators, students, and media outlets to consider these limitations and seek ways to address them. Possible solutions include clarifying that licensed health care providers, who deliver health care services on campus as their primary job responsibilities, are exempt from anti-DEI laws.

The Association of University and College Counseling Center (AUCCCD) is a professional community that fosters director development and success. To advance the mission of higher education, we innovate, educate, and advocate for collegiate mental health. We are committed to inclusive excellence and the promotion of social justice. AUCCCD is the largest organization of campus mental health leaders in the world.

If you desire additional information, wish to connect with experts on this topic, or desire press coverage regarding this press release, please contact:

• Eric Wood, Ph.D., Board Member, AUCCCD | [email protected], (817) 257-7863
• Scott Strader, Ph.D., Board Member, AUCCCD | [email protected], (813)974-2831
• Richard Shadick, Ph.D. Chair of the AUCCCD Communication Committee via the Pace University Counseling Center, [email protected], 212-346-1526