State university boards of trustees; personnel; loyalty tests and ideological preference prohibited.

(1)(a) A public institution of higher education may not:

1. Require or solicit a person to complete a political loyalty test as a condition of employment or admission into, or promotion within, such institution.

2. Give preferential consideration to a person for employment by, admission into, or promotion within the institution for an opinion or actions in support of:

a. A partisan, a political, or an ideological set of beliefs; or

b. Another person or group of persons based on the person’s or group’s race or ethnicity or support of an ideology or movement identified under sub-subparagraph (b)1.a.

(b)1. A political loyalty test includes compelling, requiring, or soliciting a person to identify commitment to or to make a statement of personal belief in support of:

a. Any ideology or movement that promotes the differential treatment of a person or a group of persons based on race or ethnicity, including an initiative or a formulation of diversity, equity, and inclusion beyond upholding the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution or a theory or practice that holds that systems or institutions upholding the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution are racist, oppressive, or otherwise unjust; or

b. A specific partisan, political, or ideological set of beliefs.

2. A political loyalty test does not include fidelity to, or an oath or effort taken to uphold, general and federal law, the United States Constitution, or the State Constitution.

(2) The State Board of Education and the Board of Governors may adopt rules and regulations, respectively, to implement this section and establish penalties for a willful violation of this section.

(3) If any provision of this section or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this section or chapter which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this section are severable.