Illustration: The Chronicle

State lawmakers in 13 states have introduced at least 21 bills since December that aim to restrict colleges’ efforts to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion.

While supporters argue that the measures are needed to push back against a “bureaucracy” that impedes intellectual diversity, critics warn that such thinking could drastically curtail colleges’ efforts to recruit and retain students of color and place the institutions afoul of accreditation standards.

As a freshman at the Pratt Institute School of Architecture, Sablan Pascale was told she'd never become an architect because she's Black and a woman. 

That excruciating classroom moment launched Pascale's passion for advocacy, pushing her to seek more just design policies and practices. It also made Pascale more determined to get young people who look like her to pursue careers in architecture.

When a shooter killed three students and critically injured five more at Michigan State University last month, school officials canceled classes for a week. But many students balked at the idea of returning to learning in any building.

The trepidation and backlash MSU unleashed with its decision to resume classes after a week illuminates a difficult question that U.S. universities are increasingly being forced to answer: After a campus shooting, how much time off is enough?