Public Records Request Reveals DEI Staffers at Michigan State U. Are Making a Small Fortune
“The five salaries alone exceed the annual compensation of many university faculty members and administrators.”
It’s amazing that this is still going on. What do these people even do?
Campus Reform reports:
5 Michigan State DEI staffers earn nearly $880,000, Campus Reform FOIA finds
A public records request filed by Campus Reform found that five employees in Michigan State University’s Office for Inclusive Excellence and Impact receive nearly $880,000 in combined annual salaries.
Documents released by the university through a Freedom of Information Act request show the five staff members collectively earn $879,194.81 annually, even as Michigan State has removed DEI language from portions of its website and strategic planning materials following federal scrutiny.
The highest-paid employee identified in the records is Vice President and Chief Inclusion Officer Jabbar Bennett, who earns $383,721.15 annually. Other employees reviewed by Campus Reform include Diversity Research Network Director Deborah Johnson ($239,309.12), Outreach and Engagement Manager Florensio Hernandez ($91,710), Assistant Director of the Diversity Research Network Micaela Flores ($89,304.14), and Staff Assistant Lisa Fuentes ($75,150.40).
Records reviewed by Campus Reform also show Bennett’s salary has increased substantially since joining the university in September 2020. His original contract listed an annual salary of $315,000, nearly $69,000 less than his current compensation.
The five salaries alone exceed the annual compensation of many university faculty members and administrators. They also represent only a portion of Michigan State’s DEI-related staffing structure. In addition to the five employees reviewed by Campus Reform, the Office for Inclusive Excellence and Impact employs 13 other staff members.
As Campus Reform previously reported, Michigan State began removing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) language from portions of its website following President Trump’s January 2025 executive order targeting DEI programs.
The university subsequently reviewed programs and activities and removed DEI language from its 2030 Strategic Plan.
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
This is the real purpose behind DEI (and lots of other leftist policies). It’s a sinecure, not a real job.
“What do these people even do?”
Write rules and make grants that advantage and enrich their friends, and lobby hard to retain their positions.
Essentially, exactly the same job as Congress.
The true test of whether a university has in fact abandoned DEI or just concealed it by giving it a new name is how many staff and faculty positions were abolished when DEI was supposedly abolished. In Texas and Florida, the number reportedly approached 40 at each institution, because they really did extirpate DEI root and branch. In other schools (I believe University of Iowa was one) only five positions were abolished, two of which were already vacant.
So what are the people hired to implement DEI doing still on the books after DEI was supposedly abolished? Good question. As you probably know, some U of Iowa mid-level staffers were caught on tape claiming that DEI was still going on, just hidden. The Iowa Governor directed an investigation to uncover the truth. That was over a year ago. I don’t think the results of the investigation have been reported. Maybe the investigation continues.