Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has opened an investigation into the University of North Texas over its diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
The probe, announced on April 10, examines whether UNT continues to teach DEI concepts and directs staff to follow policies prohibited by state law.
“The DEI ideology has been a calamitous way that radical leftists have pushed a woke agenda in our educational institutions,” Paxton said. “Texas law is clear that these DEI policies have no place in our state-funded institutions. Last year, UNT leadership refused to do anything in the face of left-wing terror being celebrated by radical students.
“Now, its own staff appears to be flaunting the breaking of state law to push radical DEI ideology. This should result in immediate termination. Texas deserves better than a UNT leadership that systematically allows the worst elements of the radical Left to run its campus.”
The investigation stems from a video circulating online that shows a Field Education Coordinator from UNT’s Social Work Department. Recorded undercover, the video captures the staff member describing how DEI is taught in classes without using explicit DEI terms and suggesting ways staff can evade the law.
Paxton sent a letter to the dean of UNT’s College of Public Affairs and Human Sciences citing the video. The letter demands an explanation of the staff member’s claims, a statement on UNT’s legal compliance, all university DEI policies and guidance, details on DEI in accreditation standards, and correspondence between leadership and staff on DEI.
Paxton called for the immediate firing of the staff member.
Pattern of Scrutiny at UNT
This latest action continues a pattern of scrutiny The Dallas Express has documented at UNT. In 2024, The Dallas Express reported that UNT was among several Texas universities potentially violating state law through job postings and policies that still promoted diversity and inclusion language, prompting the university to quietly remove or revise some postings after being contacted. Read the 2024 investigation here.
The current investigation also builds directly on Paxton’s 2025 probe into UNT’s handling of radical student behavior. Last October, Paxton launched an inquiry after the university failed to discipline students who celebrated the assassination of Charlie Kirk and issued threats against other students — issues The Dallas Express covered extensively as examples of campus leadership tolerating extremism while cracking down on opposing viewpoints.
