State Senate Votes to Strip Funding of Women’s Studies at the University of Wyoming

The Wyoming Senate passed a budget amendment by a vote of 16-14 that prohibits state funds from supporting the gender and women’s studies program at the University of Wyoming. (Republicans hold 28 of the 30 seats in the Wyoming Senate.)

The amendment was sponsored by Republican Senator Cheri Steinmetz who objected to courses she thought were outside the mainstream of appropriate for academic study in the state. “What are we doing here at the University of Wyoming with these courses?” Senator Steinmetz said. “I would ask for your favorable consideration to direct our funds in a more appropriate manner for taxpayer dollars, and just vote your conscience on this one, because my conscience won’t sleep without addressing it here in this body today.”

The Wyoming House, where Republicans hold 51 of the 60 seats, earlier had rejected a similar amendment.

In a conference committee to approve the state budget, the funding for the department was maintained. But the legislature is requiring the university to submit a report on its general education requirements and “any policies or regulations that incentivize or disincentivize students to take certain coursework.”