Curious how the University of Michigan can afford to triple its budget for “diversity and inclusion”?
Look no further than the wallets of students, parents and taxpayers.
Michigan Capitol Confidential reports that $31 million of the $85 million in additional spending – on top of the $40 million UMich already spends on diversity – is coming from the general fund, “most of which comes from tuition and fees paid by students and appropriations granted by state lawmakers”:
Earlier this year university officials increased tuition by 3.9 percent for in-state undergraduates at the Ann Arbor campus. This is more than double the rate of inflation, as well as the rate of increase lawmakers granted in appropriations for the Ann Arbor campus. When the Flint and Dearborn campuses are included, U-M will receive $355.9 million in state appropriations for the current fiscal year, more than any other state university.
So students, parents and taxpayers are funding the plurality of expanded diversity programming.
The new money will expand resources dealing with “bias-related incidents,” as reported by CapCon‘s Derek Draplin (a former College Fix writer), including a bias-reporting hotline:
“These efforts,” the plan says, “will offer critical support for all students involved in crisis, bias-related incidents or situations related to a challenging campus climate.” …
In developing the initiative, officials collected input at over 200 events and activities over the last year. One example cited in the report described graduate students concerned by “regular experiences of microaggressions, discrimination, and incivility in academic and social settings from student peers, faculty and staff.”
Also new: a full-time administrative position with the mouthful title “VPEI-CDO” (vice provost for equity and chief diversity officer). The person nominated for the position, Vice Provost for Diversity, Equity and Academic Affairs Robert Sellers, earned nearly $350,000 in that position in 2014-2015, the year it was created.
Read the report, which has much more.
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