Yudi Vargas Lewis is a first-generation college graduate with a passion for supporting student success. As the executive director of Hispanic-serving institution initiatives, Lewis is responsible for working across Weber State University and its outside partners to promote enrollment, retention, and graduation of the school's Hispanic and Latino student population.

In this interview, Lewis talks about her work to support Weber State’s goal of becoming an emerging HSI, community engagement, and her perspective on paying it forward to the next generation.

Walter Wendler, president of West Texas A&M University, thinks universities have become too ideologically focused. He wants to correct that perceived imbalance with "Panhandle values" and promote them among the campus community.

State conservative leaders are cheering Wendler's plans to sow a different vision for public higher education. But not everyone is on board.

Utah lawmakers have approved final changes to a sweeping bill that will effectively eliminate public colleges’ diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, one of the last key steps before it heads to Gov. Spencer Cox’s desk.

Utah’s proposal is one of the most wide-reaching pieces of anti-DEI legislation in the country, resembling laws passed in Florida and Texas last year that banned DEI efforts at public colleges. All three states have Republican trifectas, with Utah Republicans controlling both chambers of the Legislature and the governor’s mansion since 1985.