UC Berkeley Facing Lawsuit Over Mandatory Diversity Statements in Hiring
“several serious constitutional problems”
Diversity statements have nothing to do with academic qualifications. They are about proving your commitment to progressive values.
The College Fix reports:
UC-Berkeley threatened with lawsuit for mandatory diversity statements in hiring
Legal action may be taken against the University of California-Berkeley after it released a document showing that mandatory diversity statements may have led to discrimination in hiring.
The six-page document analyzes the taxpayer-funded institution’s new focus on hiring job candidates based on “knowledge, past contributions, and/or future plans for advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion.” If candidates didn’t meet UC-Berkeley’s standards in this area, they weren’t hired.
The 2018-2019 summary report for the “Initiative to Advance Faculty Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Life Sciences” was written by two science professors, Mary Wildermuth and Rebecca Heald, who is also regional associate dean. They are co-chairs for the Life Sciences Initiative Committee.
Daniel Ortner, an attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation, told two academic blogs that he is “looking to challenge the University of California Policy.” He wants anyone who was required to submit a mandatory diversity statement and not hired to contact him.
The policy has “several serious constitutional problems,” Ortner told The College Fix in an email. He started looking into it when “[s]ome concerned UC professors” contacted him: “[T]he more I’ve looked into it the worse UC’s actions appear.”
When applicants are required to submit a diversity statement on their own experience, university reviewers would likely be able to tell the applicants’ race and gender, “allowing those factors to be taken into account,” Ortner said.
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Comments
Many colleges have been doing this on an informal basis for a long time. I’ve been on several hiring committees where “commitment to diversity” was listed as one of the hiring criteria.
The implication was that “no conservatives or libertarians need apply.” After all, why do you think that most college faculties are greater than 95% Democrats? And the administrators are mostly even more “progressive” than the faculty.
The solution for applicants who don’t meet the left-wing thought requirement is simply to lie on any required “diversity” statements. An inappropriate question does not merit a truthful answer. Just look at the school’s own diversity statement, and paraphrase it in such a way that it looks like you’ll be one of their most enthusiastic “diversity” supporters.
I wish they’d pick a better target that is less entrenched in liberal la la land.
That said, if they take down the beast, it would be epic.