An undercover video1 led to the firing of a UNT employee, Paige Falco, who was formerly a field education coordinator in UNT’s Department of Social Work.
In the video, Falco openly admits that DEI is “definitely still a focus” despite the 2023 statewide ban signed by Governor Greg Abbott. Falco explained that the department simply stripped DEI keywords from course titles and descriptions while keeping the ideological content intact. She added that the program is expanding DEI emphasis in field instructor training, especially for students placed in government agencies, because the nonprofit association Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) demands it as a core accreditation competency.
This is how UNT (and likely many other universities and government entities) tries to get around the law: they claim to obey Texas law while letting a nonprofit’s pressure override it. CSWE’s 2022 standards explicitly require programs to “Engage Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADEI) in Practice.” UNT administrators treat the nonprofit’s demand as a get-out-of-jail-free card, shielding their preferred ideology from the law.
The allegations drew the attention of Attorney General Ken Paxton. On April 10, his office opened a formal investigation2 into whether UNT is violating Texas law. Paxton’s letter to the dean of the College of Public Affairs and Human Sciences demands a full accounting: all DEI policies, guidance documents, accreditation correspondence, and internal communications. He labeled Falco’s conduct “calamitous” and called for her immediate termination.3
Public records now indicate she is no longer employed by the university following Paxton’s remarks.
UNT is a public institution funded by Texas taxpayers. Every dollar spent propping up a curriculum that circumvents pro-taxpayer reforms is a dollar diverted from actual education, tax relief, and budget discipline. Texas families already shoulder some of the nation’s highest property taxes; they should not also subsidize education programs that teach harmful ideologies like DEI to students.
While lawmakers passed Senate Bill 174 in 2023 to eliminate DEI offices and mandates in higher education, universities use the non-profit accreditation as their shield. So more needs to be done. Ending woke and weaponized government is a priority under TFR’s Texas Prosperity Plan. Texas must remove DEI, CRT, and other harmful ideologies from every level of government, including more concrete legislation that completely defunds violators.
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- https://aim.org/2026/04/06/university-of-north-texas-relies-on-woke-accreditation-body-to-keep-dei-in-classrooms/ ↩︎
- https://dentonrc.com/education/higher_education/university_of_north_texas/ken-paxton-launches-unt-investigation-calls-for-staff-member-to-be-fired-over-dei-comments/article_4f2c777d-6238-4663-a10f-9560ef03449d.html ↩︎
- https://x.com/KenPaxtonTX/status/2042624875756396905?s=20 ↩︎
- https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=88R&Bill=SB17 ↩︎
