Arizona Universities Ditch DEI In ‘Huge’ Free Speech Victory
The controversial diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) requirement by Arizona public universities that applicants include “diversity statements” when applying is now history. This move is being celebrated by free speech advocates as a “huge” victory.
The Goldwater Institute discovered earlier this year that many faculty postings for positions at Arizona State University, the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University required these writings to be considered for hiring.
Arizona State required the diversity statements for 81% of their listed positions.
Applicants at times were mandated to replace the normal cover letter with a diversity statement. This was to be two full pages detailing the candidate’s activities and commitment to diversity.
Those considered for jobs were often forced to endorse leftist mantras such as “intersectional personal identities.”
This is described as a “framework” for understanding a person’s discriminations and disadvantages based on various personal factors. Institutionalized victimhood.
Many critics charged that the DEI requirements create an ideological litmus test demanding compliance with such leftist ideals as Critical Race Theory. There is a movement among some institutions, as Arizona clearly demonstrated, to resist these hiring practices.
Goldwater President and CEO Victor Riches called the reversal “a huge victory for academic freedom and the First Amendment.” After all, compelled speech is hardly free speech.
The organization declared the policy unconstitutional and in sharp contrast to what the goal of a university should be: a haven for free speech and expression. It also asserted that, besides violating the U.S. Constitution, requiring diversity statements ran afoul of the Arizona Constitution.
The state document reads, “No religious or political test of qualification shall ever be required as a condition of admission into any public educational institution of the state, as teacher, student or pupil.”
The Arizona Board of Regents told Fox News Digital that some university departments required the diversity statements, though it was never system-wide. That practice, it clarified, has now been discontinued.
Higher education in the U.S. has a long road to travel before it returns to its previous high standards. But rejecting DEI initiatives and diversity requirements is a giant first step in ensuring not only academic freedom but the reestablishment of a commitment to excellence over ideology.
