The University of California said on Wednesday that it would stop demanding the use of diversity in recruitment, a practice praised by some who said it made campuses more comprehensive, but were criticized by others who said.
Diversity statements usually ask work applicants to describe on a page or how they will contribute to the diversity of the campus. Removing from them, one of the largest higher higher education systems in the United States, comes as Trump administration escalates an attack on higher education to plan diversity.
For a decade, the 10 campus system was a national leader in the use of such statements, as universities were increasingly under pressure from those who wanted more different student organs and abilities.
“Our values and our commitment to our mission have not changed,” said Janet Reilly, chairman of the System Regents Council, in a late Wednesday statement. “We will continue to embrace and celebrate the Californians from a variety of experiences, historians and opinions.”
The announcement came as universities faced some immediate challenges from the new Trump administration.
Two weeks ago, the administration announced that it would finish $ 400 million in research grants with Columbia University for criticism that the institution had not done enough to break anti -Semitism. The Department of Education sent letters last week to 60 colleges warning of “possible enforcement actions” if they do not protect Jewish students. Four of the 10 campuses of the University of California system – Berkeley, Davis, San Diego and Santa Barbara – the letters received.
And last month, the Department of Education issued guidance that interpreted the Supreme Court of 2023 that hit the import practices with consciousness of the matches much more extensively to include any “decision -making”.
The president of the University of California system, Michael Drake, did not face diversity statements during his quotes at a meeting of regents on Wednesday. But he painted a gloomy picture of the University’s finances.
The system has supported 8 % to reduce state budget and worry about threats by the federal government to reduce funding. Like many other universities in recent days, Dr. Drake announced a system of recruitment.
In a letter to the system leaders on Wednesday, University’s Provost, Katherine S. Newman, said the regions had directed Dr. Drake to eliminate diversity statements for all new hires.
“The requirement of submitting a diversity declaration can lead the applicants to focus on an aspect of their candidacy outside their experience or previous experience,” he wrote. He added: “We can continue to effectively serve our communities from a variety of life experiences, history and opinions without requiring diversity statements.”
Even before Mr Trump assumed duties, the diversity statements had become a lightning rod.
Their conservative critics describe them as “vows of dedication” that limit the diversity of thought in academia. Others saw them as another tool that I understand candidates could use to hit the right words -key words and gain an advantage in hiring.
Some states, including Northern Dakota, Florida and Texas, have banned their demand or have completely stopped them. Through the pressure, many colleges, such as Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Michigan, have recently said that they would stop demanding teachers.
“They encouraged a performance,” said Steven Brint, a professor at the University of California, Riverside. “People knew the right thing to say.”
The University of California was accused of statements of diversity, but the federal pipeline was eventually thrown out because a judge said the plaintiffs had no stop.
But in their supporters, statements were a test of how comfortable candidates navigated more and more different student bodies. Diversity statements do not measure beliefs, but actions, said Brian Soucek, a professor of law at the University of California, Davis.
Professor Soucek said the university was removed from one of its core values and records Trump’s administration in a vain attempt to avoid the anger of the president.
“Attempts to calm those who are clearly clear about their intention to destroy higher education, as we know today are politically naive,” Professor Soucek writes this week in a letter to school leaders.
In an interview, he added, “show me how it worked for Columbia.”
