Arizona universities abandon DEI statements for faculty applicants

The Arizona Board of Regents has decided to eliminate a diversity requirement that applicants to give a statement about diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The shift comes after the nonprofit Goldwater Institute publicized that 80% of faculty job postings at three major Arizona public universities required applicants to do so.

The schools involved are Arizona State University, the University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University. The institute posited that job postings required applicants to provide the DEI statements in order to screen out insufficiently progressive candidates, according to an Aug. 8 news release.

Goldwater first exposed in January that the taxpayer-funded universities were requiring applicants to provide “diversity statements” as a condition of hiring.

Texas and Florida have worked with Goldwater to eliminate DEI within schools.

In June, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott enacted a reform backed by Goldwater that completely defunds the DEI bureaucracies involved with the state’s public colleges and universities.

In May, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law to prohibit the use of political litmus tests for hiring and promotions in universities. The law was modeled on a reform created by the Goldwater Institute, according to a May 15 news release.

Although several states are eliminating DEI within universities, many Americans disagree with this action.

“It appears that some companies are pulling back on DEI – or at least not discussing or promoting it. That’s a mistake,” wrote Bill Novelli, professor at Georgetown University, in a Fortune article titled, “America can’t fulfill its purpose if we backslide on diversity, equity, and inclusion.”