Tennessee senators sent state Sen. Brian Kelsey reeling Monday over accusations the University of Tennessee was trying to be “woke” by no longer requiring students to take the ACT or SAT entrance exams.
Kelsey, a Germantown Republican, postponed his legislation until Thursday after initially saying the University of Tennessee is trying to be like Harvard University, which he said is “picking and choosing” students based on skin color. Harvard is the target of an admissions lawsuit that is to go before the U.S. Supreme Court, he said, and the university is reacting to allegations that it discriminates against students of Asian descent.
“… That’s the wokeism certain people at the University of Tennessee want to bring into our state,” Kelsey said. “This bill says no.”
Kelsey’s legislation, Senate Bill 1815, which was amended, would require universities to obtain ACT or SAT scores of every student beginning with the 2023-24 school year.
“Woke” is a term that describes sensitivity to racial and discriminatory issues.