BY: Tri Star Daily Staff
As reported earlier by TriStar Daily, Belmont University is in the midst of an increasingly viral controversy regarding an apparent attempt to hide its continued embrace of woke DEI policies, despite federal laws, Trump administration, executive orders, and state laws banning such actions. Despite Belmont rebranding their DEI programs under the new moniker HUB The university’s website continued to label their efforts as DEI as recently as July 17.
Jozef Lukey, Assistant Director of Student Success and Flourishing, is revealed on an undercover video bragging about how the university is attempting to hide their embrace of illegal alien students, including housing them on campus. Housing illegals on campus may violate a recently enacted Tennessee law making it criminal to harbor illegal aliens for financial benefit. Under the law that went into effect July 1, harboring or concealing an undocumented immigrant for financial gain is classified as a Class E felony, carrying 1-6 years in prison and a fine of up to $3,000.
“We try to create as an inclusive space as possible here at Belmont,” Lukey said in the video. “No, we’re not going to be out in the news doing all these things, ‘this is how we stand and this is what we stand by.’ No, we’re not going to make any outward statements.” He admits Belmont is operating in the shadows, in violation of the executive order and federal immigration law.
Lukey went on to admit that Belmont University is effectively hiding illegal alien students and protecting them from federal immigration authorities.
In the undercover video he said, “We do have undocumented students here…
We definitely have to navigate very carefully and just cautiously just because we just don’t ever know,” he said. “Especially with the ICE raids that are happening in the city that impacts our campus,” he added.
“We don’t communicate to anybody externally who is undocumented, who it is, and so like, yes, we know who it is,” he added. Lukey added that the school intends to be a safe haven for progressivism and apparently illegal immigrants by being secretive.
It’s clearly not secret any longer.
State Senator Brent Taylor, who sponsored the Tennessee legislation, criminalizing actions that constitute harboring illegal aliens for “ for direct or indirect financial benefit” wants answers from Belmont University.
“It is our intent to penalize those who harbor or house illegal aliens for profit, which our legislation does” said Taylor, who sponsored the law. “My question for Belmont is whether they know that they are in fact providing housing for illegal alien students and being compensated for that as their campus representative indicated in the leaked video.”
“If so,” Taylor added, “then various officials at Belmont could be subject to felony prosecution for knowingly and intentionally violating Tennessee law.” Taylor noted that he hopes Belmont will quickly and transparently address the issue of whether or not illegal alien students are paying to be housed on campus at Belmont.
Another issue that has arisen in the wake of the undercover video is the fact that Small Business Administrator Kellie Loeffler recently appeared on the Belmont campus announcing a $100 million State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) federal grant to the university. She joined a panel discussion with Belmont President Dr. Greg Jones and Tennessee Commissioner of Economic and Community Development Stuart McWhorter regarding the role of small businesses in Tennessee and efforts to promote more exports. In the event that Belmont’s DEI activities could be determined to be in violation of the law and executive orders, that grant and other federal funds received by Belmont could potentially be clawed back by the Trump administration.
