Arizona State University (ASU) removed a DEI statement component from a job posting for a professor and chair of the English department.
Applicants were asked to submit “a statement addressing how your past and/or potential contributions to diversity and inclusion will advance ASU’s commitment to inclusive excellence,” according to a screenshot posted by Steve McGuire, a Paul and Karen Levy Fellow for Campus Freedom at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.
“The use of ‘DEI statements’ has never been required by ASU and is not essential to ASU’s commitment to inclusive excellence found in the ASU charter,” an ASU spokesperson told Campus Reform.
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“Instead, ASU will continue to build an educational environment focused on the success of ASU students who comprise one of the most diverse student bodies in the nation with students of all backgrounds, from all 50 states and about 150 countries around the world,” the spokesperson said.
“This is a win for free speech over forced speech,” a Goldwater Institute spokesperson told Campus Reform. “The corrosive impact of mandatory ‘DEI statements’ has become increasingly clear to policymakers and the public, and university administrators have taken note.”
“The removal of mandatory DEI statements from Arizona’s public universities will ensure that job candidates are judged based upon their teaching and research abilities, not their allegiance to leftwing dogma,” the spokesperson said.
The Goldwater Institute released a report in January 2023 showing that 81% of ASU job postings had required diversity statements, Campus Reform reported. For example, a job posting for an Early Hominin Postcranial Anatomy and Functional Morphology Postdoctoral Research Scholar at ASU’s Institute of Human Origins still asks for a diversity statement as part of the application.
Arizona schools are removing their required diversity statements following the organization’s efforts to report on the practice, the Goldwater Institute announced Aug. 8.
“While diversity statements are increasingly being weaponized across academia as a political litmus test to enforce intellectual and political conformity, this news represents a major victory for academic freedom and for the First Amendment,” a Goldwater Institute Spokesperson told Campus Reform.
As part of state law, however, Arizona employees must sign a pledge to uphold the U.S. Constitution, according to Arizona’s Free Enterprise Club, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting economic prosperity and a strong and vibrant Arizona economy.
[RELATED: WATCH: ‘DEI has taken over’ civics education]
Campus Reform contacted ASU and Steve McGuire for comment about their responses toward required diversity statements. This article will be updated accordingly.
Originally published by Campus Reform. Republished with permission.
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