The College Fix

American Association of University Professors condemns ‘attacks on DEI’ and defends ‘diversity goals’ in a new statement

Diversity, equity, and inclusion statements and hiring practices at universities are “compatible with academic freedom,” the American Association of University Professors said in a statement Wednesday.

“This committee rejects the notion that the use of DEI criteria for faculty evaluation is categorically incompatible with academic freedom,” the statement, drafted by the subcommittee of the Association’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure, reads.

The left-leaning faculty union said DEI practices do not impose political or ideological litmus tests and condemns criticisms of DEI, stating:

Attacks on DEI have played an integral part in the partisan political playbook to turn back the clock on advances that have been made toward the goal of diversity in the faculty, student body, and areas of study. Furthermore, it is crucial to consider how such attacks can easily reinforce and indeed fuel portrayals of entire fields and disciplines—including ethnic studies, critical race theory, and gender studies—as “political” and “ideological” projects and not serious subjects or research disciplines. When entire fields and subjects related to the study of race and gender, for example, are not considered “intellectual” pursuits, both academic freedom and DEI as social and institutional values are compromised, and the charge of orthodoxy gains purchase.

The AAUP further defended DEI criteria and statements as “a valuable component in the efforts to recruit, hire, and retain a diverse faculty with a breadth of skills needed for excellence in teaching, research, and service.”

“Diversity goals are closely connected to academic freedom and shared governance,” it added.

While faculty members have the right to disagree with university policies, the group stated, it’s not automatically a violation of academic freedom if a university body adopts an educational policy or goal and faculty evaluations reflect that policy.

Additionally, the association made three recommendations. First, it called for schools to involve faculty “in all stages of DEI policy development, implementation, and revision.”

Second, schools should use DEI statement to ensure faculty have the necessary skills to help achieve diversity goals, “including the recruitment and retention of historically underrepresented students,” it stated.

Lastly, universities are obligated to “support teaching and research on inequality,” the association recommended.

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni called the AAUP’s statement a “giant step backward” in a post on X.

“They [have] sent a clear signal that they don’t represent professors who don’t conform with DEI statement mandates. Our academics deserve better,” the ACTA wrote.

In August, more than 1,000 scholars signed a petition opposing the American Association of University Professors’ support of academic boycotts, as previously reported by The College Fix.

“We believe the AAUP’s new position is wrong-headed and dangerous,” the petition states. “We cannot safeguard academic freedom by violating academic freedom. Normalizing academic boycotts poses a profound threat to academic freedom.”

Also in August, the AAUP’s new president Todd Wolfson called Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance a “fascist.”

Wolfson took issue with Vance’s claim that universities are “dedicated to ‘deceit and lies, not to the truth.’”

MORE: More elite colleges look to end DEI hiring mandates

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