Assembly Bill 2925 (AB 2925), the Equity in Higher Education Act, mandates specific requirements to combat and respond to discrimination within California’s postsecondary educational institutions. Specifically, the law requires community colleges, the California State University System, and independent or private postsecondary institutions that receive state financial assistance to include training to address discrimination against the five (5) most targeted groups in the state as determined by the “Hate Crime in California” publication by the Attorney General. The law requests the University of California to follow the same standards. The training must be included as part of any general antidiscrimination or diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs offered by these institutions.
The purpose of the legislation is, in part, to eliminate hostile environments on campus that impairs the access of students to equal educational opportunity. It is also to require postsecondary educational institutions to provide supportive measures to help students who have encountered harassing or discriminatory incidents, regardless of the location of the harassing or discriminatory incident.
(AB 2925 amends sections 66252, 66261.3, and 66262 of, and adds section 66268 to the Education Code.)