Back in December, we covered a story at Princeton University about diversity, equity, and inclusion administrators who were leaving the school for what they claimed was a lack of support from the administration.
We cited this report from the Daily Princetonian:
3 Princeton DEI staff members resign, alleging lack of supportIn May, the University’s Director of Athletics was “incredibly excited” to announce a new hire for the department: Jordan “JT” Turner, who would be joining the University as the inaugural Associate Director of Athletics for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Turner’s role was intended to “create and maintain a culture of mutual respect and unity” and oversee “all aspects of DEI education and training for student-athletes, coaches and staff with Princeton Athletics,” according to a University announcement.Within four months, Turner resigned from the role.Turner is not the only University DEI official to recently resign. Since September 2021, two other Princeton staff members who were hired to conduct DEI-related work across the University have resigned. All three independently alleged a systemic lack of support from the University administration.
This is apparently happening at some other schools now.
Liam Knox of Inside Higher Ed picks up right where the Princeton story leaves off:
The departures at Princeton are part of a pattern in higher education, according to nearly a dozen college and university DEI administrators and staffers who spoke with Inside Higher Ed. While some institutions have elevated their highest-level DEI officers to senior positions or even president, the employees interviewed for this article said that more often, university leaders show a lack of appreciation and support for their work, leading them and many of their colleagues to leave higher ed burned out and disillusioned.Compounding those challenges is an increasingly aggressive political attack on DEI initiatives by conservatives across the country. Texas lawmakers have proposed legislation to ban DEI work in public higher ed outright. Last week, Oklahoma’s new Republican superintendent of public instruction issued a letter requiring the state’s public colleges to account for “every dollar spent” on DEI in a potential effort to curb that spending. And on Tuesday, Florida governor Ron DeSantis announced plans to defund all DEI offices across the state’s higher education system, the latest in a long string of political maneuvers that includes the recent appointment of two vocal anti-DEI activists to the New College of Florida’s Board of Trustees.Despite the increase in political hostility, the number of senior DEI roles is steadily multiplying.
On a related note, in all the recent layoffs in big tech, DEI staffers are often the first to go. Why do you suppose that is?
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