{"id":134795,"date":"2023-10-03T00:02:10","date_gmt":"2023-10-03T04:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/?p=134795"},"modified":"2023-10-03T08:32:55","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T12:32:55","slug":"diversity-statements-used-to-cull-applicant-pool-boost-minorities-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/diversity-statements-used-to-cull-applicant-pool-boost-minorities-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Diversity statements used to cull applicant pool, boost minorities: report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Universities recruited faculty focused on ‘Latinx Studies,’ and ‘The Racialized Body,’ according to the report<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Universities’ practice of simultaneously hiring equity-focused faculty aggressively pushes diversity, equity and inclusion, according to a new report from the National Association of Scholars.<\/p>\n

“Diversity statements” used during cluster hiring are frequently used as “ideological screens” for employment, NAS Senior Fellow John Sailer, who wrote the report<\/a>, told The College Fix.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe use of diversity statements is constitutionally suspicious, and some academics have already sued, claiming that the requirement amounts to illegal compelled speech or viewpoint discrimination,” Sailer (pictured<\/em>) wrote.<\/p>\n

Sailer cited a “cluster hire” initiative at theUniversity of California Berkley in life sciences in which \u201cthe applicant pool was 53.7 percent white and 13.2 percent Hispanic.”<\/p>\n

“The shortlist was 13.6 percent white and 59.1 percent Hispanic,” Sailer said.<\/p>\n

“The largest reduction in the proportion of white candidates, and the largest increase in the proportion of Hispanic candidates, happened after the first-round review of diversity statements,” Sailer continued.<\/p>\n

At Vanderbilt University in 2021, “the hiring committee reduced the initial applicant pool by around 85 percent, from 400 to around 60, on the basis of a blind diversity statement review,” according to the report.<\/p>\n

An article<\/a> by Sailer posted to the NAS website quoted Carla Freeman, associate dean of faculty at Emory University\u2019s College of Arts and Sciences.<\/p>\n

Freeman wrote cluster hiring \u201crepresents a sea change in the intentional\u2014rather than passive\u2014approach to diversifying the faculty,” in an article<\/a> in The Chronicle of Higher Education.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Fix<\/em> reached out to Professor Freeman for comment but has not received a response.<\/p>\n

Sailer’s NAS report analyzes the ultimate goals of the these hiring practices.<\/p>\n

“DEI cluster hiring signals the total reorientation of the university\u2019s function from the pursuit of truth to the pursuit of political and social transformation,” according to the report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Cluster hiring encourages scholar activism by increasing the number of faculty jobs with a professional focus on race, identity, social justice, and a narrowly construed concept of equity,” according to the report.<\/p>\n

“Recent cluster hiring initiatives recruited faculty who work on such themes as ‘Designing Just Futures,’ ‘Latinx Studies,’ and ‘The Racialized Body,'” it continued.<\/p>\n

“Many of the job listings we highlight in this report are saturated with the language of identity politics,” the report stated. “They appear designed to recruit activists.”<\/p>\n

Recent reports and analyses by The Fix<\/em> have found similar discrimination against faculty who did not declare their allegiance to DEI orthodoxy.<\/p>\n

For example, applicants for teaching jobs at the University of California Berkeley lost points during interviews if they did not demonstrate sufficient awareness and commitment to \u201cdiversity, equity and inclusion,\u201d The Fix<\/em> reported<\/a> in June.<\/p>\n

Right now The College Fix<\/em> has a back-to-school campaign to help us continue to support our amazing student journalists. A donation today<\/a><\/span> will be matched thanks to a generous limited-time matching gift opportunity from a friend of The Fix<\/em>! CLICK HERE<\/span><\/a> for more details \u2014 and thank you!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

MORE: Math and science professors take a stand against DEI<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

IMAGE: Andrey_Popov\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

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