University of Kentucky employees admitted on hidden camera that faculty continue teaching diversity, equity, and inclusion ideology despite a state law banning such practices, telling an undercover journalist they avoid detection by using different words, per a report by The College Fix.
The investigative organization Accuracy in Media released two undercover videos, one Monday and another last week, showing staff members discussing how DEI remains embedded in university coursework. Adam Guillette, president of Accuracy in Media, told The College Fix the University of Kentucky represents one of the worst violations his team has documented.
“I think it’s overwhelmingly clear that the law means nothing to the radicals who run higher education,” Guillette said in a phone interview Monday. “This isn’t an instance of one or two bad apples, but rather a completely broken system with universities focused almost exclusively on activism rather than education.”
In Monday’s video, Tamra Nowitzki, manager of the Department of Psychology, tells an undercover journalist that most faculty members lean progressive and find the anti-DEI environment frustrating.
Nowitzki suggests the department continues teaching DEI and antiracism concepts but masks them with alternative phrasing.
“We can’t actually use those words because, you know, people are dumb,” she says. “But yeah, we still teach all of that.”
Nowitzki and department Chair Michelle Martel did not respond to requests for comment from the College Fix about the video.
A second undercover video published last week shows Justin Conder from the Sociology Department confirming the university maintains its commitment to DEI despite Kentucky House Bill 4, a 2025 state law prohibiting administrative spending and advocacy for the ideology.
“Even if it’s not explicitly said, it’s there, and it’s an important part of the curriculum,” Conder tells an undercover reporter when asked about DEI.
“If you look at the syllabuses especially, it’s there,” Conder says in the footage.
Conder and department Chair Edward Morris did not respond to requests for comment. The Fix also pointed to language on the Sociology Department website stating that all faculty conduct research on social inequalities related to race, social class, gender, sexuality, and disability.
Kentucky House Bill 4 prohibits public universities from spending money on DEI activism and bars universities from requiring employees to endorse or condemn specific ideological viewpoints.
University spokesperson Jay Blanton told The College Fix in a statement Monday that the institution remains fully compliant with state law. He noted the law protects academic freedom of faculty and students while exempting academic course content.
“We are not aware of any issues with respect to curriculum and HB 4 at this time. If we become aware of issues, we will immediately address them according to the law and our policies,” Blanton stated via email.
Blanton outlined compliance changes including revised job descriptions, eliminated mandatory DEI trainings and diversity statements, and prohibitions on spending university resources for DEI events. He emphasized that no employee speaks on behalf of the university except the president or his designee.
When Guillette confronted Blanton on camera about the employees’ comments, the spokesperson responded he was not aware of them but insisted the university had made substantive policy changes beyond merely changing wording.
“If we hear about issues, with respect to that, we will move to remedy that and correct that,” Blanton said in the video.
The initial video prompted sharp responses from several state lawmakers. Rep. Josh Calloway wrote on social media that if institutions think they can ignore the law, they are mistaken.
Kentucky State Rep. T.J. Roberts accused university staff of “knowingly breaking the law and indoctrinating students with this trash WITH YOUR TAX DOLLARS.” Roberts wrote on social media that the university certified compliance to the attorney general but the videos suggest officials “lied through their teeth.”
State Attorney General Russell Coleman opened an investigation into the matter, a spokesperson told the Kentucky Lantern late last week.
Guillette told The Fix his team has spoken with the attorney general’s office and several lawmakers about their investigations.
“We’re excited to see responses, but we’re never pleased until lawbreakers are fired and laws are strengthened,” he said.
The videos from Kentucky expose what many Americans already suspect about the DEI industry. It operates as a sophisticated shell game where institutions claim compliance with the law while continuing discriminatory practices against White Americans under sanitized language.
True equality under the law requires completely dismantling these race-based preference systems, not allowing universities to rebrand them with clever euphemisms. America needs genuine colorblind equal treatment, not institutional deception that perpetuates the very discrimination these laws were designed to eliminate.
