Penn State’s DEI requirement for faculty promotion prompts lawsuit
Pennsylvania State University’s agricultural program is facing a lawsuit from a professor who alleges that the school did not nominate her for a promotion because she did not “exceed” diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) requirements.
Pennsylvania State University’s agricultural program is facing a lawsuit from a professor who alleges that the school did not nominate her for a promotion because she did not “exceed” diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) requirements. The professor, Molly Kelly, is an award-winning wine expert and former Enology Extension Specialist at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. According to the lawsuit, Kelly was denied a promotion twice for not expressing commitment to the university’s “DEI orthodoxy.”
“[Kelly’s] professional record is exemplary—she has secured significant grant funding, developed innovative educational programs, and made substantial contributions to Pennsylvania’s wine industry,” reads the lawsuit.
“Yet Penn State denied her promotion to Extension Educator Level 5—twice—not because of any deficiency in her professional performance, but because she failed to demonstrate sufficient ideological commitment to the University’s prescribed DEI orthodoxy.”
Although Kelly conducted outreach to LGBTQ organizations and Greek Orthodox–owned businesses, the University’s promotion committee did not recognize these activities as qualifying for DEI training. According to the lawsuit, the committee determined that Kelly had merely “checked the box” and had not truly made an effort to learn from the diversity training.
Reilly Stephens, Senior Counsel for Molly Kelly and Director of Amicus Practice at the Liberty Justice Center, claimed that Penn State has crossed a “constitutional line” in failing to promote the professor.
“When universities punish educators for failing to conform to the dictates of DEI, they cross a constitutional line,” stated Stephens.
“Dr. Kelly declined to bend to the ideological coercion that has overtaken our public universities, and we are proud to represent her in asserting her rights.”
As reported by Fox News, Penn State had originally been in hot water for mandating DEI requirements on faculty as far back as 2021, when the university included a preference in job applications for applicants who could demonstrate their commitment to “anti-racism and anti-oppression.”
Faculty requirements, such as those at Penn State, are not uncommon at many public universities. CriticalRace.org has identified several public institutions that openly mandate professors to have a commitment to DEI initiatives to receive promotion.
At the University of Oregon, faculty are required to submit a statement that includes a “discussion of contributions to institutional equity and inclusion” when being considered for promotions or tenure.
In 2024, the Union of Pitt Faculty at the University of Pittsburgh “signed off on guidance…related to implementing community-engaged scholarship and diversity, equity and inclusion work in promotions and tenure decisions.”
As many public universities move to incorporate DEI requirements into faculty promotion criteria, the outcome of this case could shape the future of such policies.
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Comments
Not getting promoted because of DEI?
“Well,” said Elizabeth Warren, “You need to look in the mirror and notice those high cheek bones. See, right there. Now add native American to your resume, then get out your Pow Wow cook book and let the good times roll.”
What a bunch of hypocrites these virtue-signaling Penn State administrators are.
Penn State is the same DEI school who fired their black head football coach after the sixth game of the regular season.
One more entry in an incredibly long list of justifications to burn the entire rotten system to the ground.
Close the schools. Fire the staff. Raze the buildings. Plow the land. Plant corn.
Warren’s people call it “maize….” 😉
Last I heard, “Warren’s people” disowned her.
When professors in Texas and Florida are fired, not promoted, or otherwise disciplined for preaching DEI and critical theory, and they sue under the exact same theory, does the Liberty Justice Center go to bat for them too?
I’m no lawyer, but it sounds like one is a case of someone promoting discrimination, and the other is a case of someone refusing to promote discrimination.
What’s the difference? On the contrary, treating them differently based on the content of the speech is precisely what the first amendment forbids.
Forcing employees to adhere to a code of conduct is one thing. Forcing employees to complete a training session and/or compelling political/public policy speech is a problem. Especially when the content/philosophy of that compelled speech is itself discriminatory, advocating a policy position antithetical not just to ‘American values of meritocracy’ but to the spirit of the entire civil rights movement and the 14A.
States, and state institutions with their permission, are allowed to have opinions. When people speak for the state they must express the state’s opinions, not their own. That much is well established and not disputed.
So Pennsylvania, or at least its university with its permission, is entitled to support critical theory and DEI, just as Texas and Florida are entitled to oppose these ideas.
The question is whether they can compel university professors, who traditionally are understood to speak only for themselves and not for the university, to speak for them and refrain from teaching ideas that are contrary to the state’s opinion. And that question goes both ways. If Texas can fire professors for teaching critical theory, then why can’t Pennsylvania fire them for not teaching it?
Weren’t we told that DEI had died? Guess not.
It is time to classify wokeness as a religion and apply the establishment clause to prevent this kind of nonsense. Wokeness is the religion of RAINBOW FASCSM. Obama is Jesus, Trump is Satan and being born white is the original sin.
These DEI pledges constitute swearing allegiance to the woke religion. At a state school that should violate the constitution.