Topline
The University of California announced Wednesday it is dropping the requirement for diversity statements in its campus hiring process, in a move that comes amid the Trump administration’s threats to block federal funding to institutions that continue to maintain diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
The University of California will be dropping its “diversity statement” for campus job applicants.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reservedKey Facts
According to the Los Angeles Times, the change was announced by the university’s provost executive vice president for academic affairs, Katherine Newman, in a letter written to academic administrators across UC’s many campuses.
Newman’s letter said the requirement to submit a diversity statement “may lead applicants to focus on an aspect of their candidacy that is outside their expertise or prior experience.”
The provost said UC can continue to “effectively serve our communities from a variety of life experiences, backgrounds, and points of view,” without requiring people to submit diversity statements.
Under the diversity statement requirement, campus job applicants were required to submit essays on the work they have done to support diversity efforts in their field and how they intend to contribute to campus diversity.
At a meeting of the university’s regents on Wednesday, UC President Michael Drake highlighted concerns about the university’s finances, noting that they were preparing for an 8% state budget cut and the looming threat of a federal funding cut, the New York Times reported.
Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts: We’re launching text message alerts so you’ll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here.
What Has The Trump Administration Said About Dei In Educational Institutes?
Last month, the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights wrote a letter accusing educational institutes of discriminating against students, “on the basis of race, including white and Asian students, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds and low-income families.” The letter also alleged that institutes “toxically indoctrinated students with the false premise that the United States is built upon ‘systemic and structural racism.’” The agency said it plans to conduct assessments and “Institutions that fail to comply with federal civil rights law may, consistent with applicable law, face potential loss of federal funding.”
What Do We Know About Federal Investigations Targeting Uc?
Earlier this month, the Justice Department announced it had launched a civil rights investigation into alleged antisemitism at the university stemming from pro-Palestinian protests linked to the war in Gaza. The DOJ said its investigation will “assess whether UC has engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination based on race, religion and national origin against its professors, staff and other employees by allowing an Antisemitic hostile work environment to exist on its campuses.” Protests against the war in Gaza at the UCLA campus led to hundreds of students being arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department. The arrests were made shortly after violence erupted at the protestors’ encampments as counter-protesters clad in black clothing and masks swarmed the campus and attacked protesters with bear mace, pepper spray and fireworks.
Tangent
Earlier this month, the Education Department announced the scrapping of $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University because of the school’s “continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.” The department’s statement warned that other institutes could also lose federal funding if they continued to allow “illegal protests” and fail to protect students from antisemitic harassment.
Further Reading
University of California Will Stop Requiring Diversity Statements in Hiring (New York Times)
As Trump attacks DEI, UC bans ‘diversity statements’ in faculty hiring (Los Angeles Times)
Read the full article here
