Sarah Green, the Kansas National Committeewoman for CRA and a University of Kansas student, sparred with a Democrat legislator following a controversial state committee hearing on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The seemingly amicable interaction, organized by the Kansas Higher Education Budget Committee, escalated weeks after she fearlessly spoke out against discriminatory DEI initiatives.

The opportunity for Green to express her concerns arose on January 31st when Committee Chairman Rep. Steve Howe invited her to speak on the subject. Republicans asked several inquisitory questions during Green’s testimony while Democrats remained almost completely silent.

Green started her testimony to a Kansas house committee with a declaration of support for a state bill that exerted unprecedented pressure on the leftist-controlled colleges and universities that operated under the Kansas Board of Regents. The bill would ban the use of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion mandates in hiring and admissions in many of the state’s largest schools - a relief to the competent thousands who the left saw as unprivileged and, by extension, less deserving of a college education.

When recalling her motivations for testifying before the committee, Green mentioned her concerns with DEI ideology as well as her own experience with the hostile, conformist environment it had created in her college classrooms.

“To put it simply, DEI is everywhere on campus at KU. There are statements on syllabi, posters, slides, training, and in hiring processes. It is extremely overwhelming being faced with this ideology in every corner on campus with no room for debate or dissent,” Green explained to an attentive committee.

“My biggest concern is with hiring processes and the hidden amount of funding going towards the ideology. My professors should be hired based on their merits and achievements in their careers - not by the color of their skin or how they identify. In my field, engineering, it is both absurd and demeaning to hire someone based on anything but their knowledge and efforts.”

When the hearing came to a close, Green thought all was well. Over a month after the hearing concluded, House Democrats began to make a fuss.

Democrat Rep. Brandon Woodward, a silent observer to the hearing the month prior, cynically claimed on the house floor that Green had lied to the committee when she slammed DEI. Woodward - a staunch opponent of the DEI ban - discredited Green’s testimony and even tried to exclude it from the debate on the ban because of manufactured “dishonesty.”

Word quickly spread to Committeewoman Green. She demanded a retraction and meeting with Representative Woodard, who eventually conceded and admitted that he had dishonestly smeared Green’s statement.

“He admitted in the meeting that I did not lie and he should not have brought my name up as he did on the floor,” Green explained. “He has since released a retraction and apology letter taking back the accusations made against me.”