Congressman Addison McDowell has joined House Republican Leadership Chairwoman Elise Stefanik in introducing the Fairness in Higher Education Accreditation Act. The bill aims to prevent accrediting agencies from requiring colleges and universities to implement racial or sex-based quotas, and emphasizes the importance of academic freedom.
The legislation is intended to codify former President Trump’s executive order, Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education, into law. Senator Jim Banks has introduced a companion bill in the Senate. Representatives Ralph Norman and Addison McDowell are original cosponsors of the measure.
“In the golden age of common sense, the Fairness in Higher Education Accreditation Act presents a prime opportunity to correct the path of our higher education institutions, which have lost their way in recent years,” said Congressman McDowell. “When we commit our universities to excellence over DEI, our country is better for it. I’m proud to stand with Congresswoman Elise Stefanik and Senator Jim Banks in our country’s efforts to rid our universities of wokeness.”
Chairwoman Stefanik stated: “Accreditors should not have the tools to coerce colleges into using racial or sex-based quotas as a condition of accreditation. Academic quality should be based on merit and not woke accreditation elites who have a Far Left ideology at odds with freedom of thought.”
Key provisions of the bill include requirements that accreditors respect academic freedom and First Amendment protections, prohibit enforcement of identity-based quotas related to race, gender, or national origin among students or staff, strengthen institutional autonomy by allowing schools to set lawful policies without risking accreditation status, protect religious institutions from mandates conflicting with their beliefs, and provide legal recourse for colleges against accreditors that violate these protections.
