Opinion | Cowboy ethics aren’t what they once were in Wyoming

The University of Wyoming launched its “The world needs more cowboys” campaign in 2018 with a video celebrating the diversity of students who embody the cowboy legacy — tenacious individuals who courageously pursued adventure and freedom through “fearless independence” in the American West.

As students, UW asks us to embody “cowboy ethics,” but our institution isn’t “cowboy” anymore. 

If UW applauds cowboys for their “unyielding courage” and “relentless curiosity” — as banners adorning campus lamp posts suggest — then the administration should be standing up to the fear and narrow-mindedness exemplified by the Wyoming Freedom Caucus’ attack on diversity, equity and inclusion. 

After hours of testimony over the last year from professors, students and staff who spoke out against the Freedom Caucus’ push to defund DEI programs, the UW administration demonstrated they were more than willing to over-comply and over-censor essential university offices out of fear of legislative reprimand. This is not cowboy “unwavering integrity,” it’s bowing down to authority at the first point of resistance.   

Even private funding for DEI initiatives is under threat. Senate File 103, “Terminating and defunding diversity, equity and inclusion,” a bill vetoed by Gov. Mark Gordon earlier this year, would have prohibited public institutions from accepting private donations designated for DEI efforts. That means when our community wants to support inclusion with our own funds, there are lawmakers who want to tell us we can’t.  

What will happen once the University of Wyoming loses accreditation for programs that require DEI, putting students’ degrees in jeopardy?

In fact, enrollment at the state’s only four-year public university has already been declining.  

Taking effect on July 1, House Bill 147, “Prohibition of institutional discrimination,” defines DEI programs and activities as inherently discriminatory. The rhetoric of a merit-based society is attractive, but what is not being conveyed is that we can’t have a merit-based society without DEI when there is systemic institutionalized discrimination. What gets lost in this definition is the truth: DEI is cowboy. Not the sanitized version we see on recruitment posters, but the real, historical legacy of the American West. One in four cowboys was Black. The vaquero traditions of Mexican cowboys defined cattle herding and ranch life. Native Americans, Asian immigrants and women all shaped the frontier. Cowboy culture has always been diverse; we’re just finally telling the whole story. 

By rejecting DEI, we aren’t preserving tradition. We’re whitewashing it.

When did “relentless curiosity” mean allowing fear to dissuade us from inviting hard workers, creative thinkers and adventurous pioneers to have a seat at the table? 

Cowboy ethics aren’t meant to be printed on a banner, attached to a light pole and forgotten when things get hard. If we only stand by them when it’s easy, they aren’t ethics, they are decoration. 

Cowboy values are grit, speaking up when it counts, standing up to bullies and looking out for the people around you.

So, we urge the university to find its Wyoming cowboy backbone — reflect, course correct and remember what it truly means to draw a line and hold to it.