Trump’s DOJ Investigates University Of California Over Effort To Recruit Racially Diverse Faculty
At this point, it’s clear that the Trump administration is moving like a pack of bloodhounds trying to sniff out, hunt down and kill the diversity, equity and inclusion efforts of institutions of higher learning across the nation. The White House’s latest anti-DEI witch hunt target is the University of California (UC).
According to The Hill, on Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it has launched an investigation into UC over its “UC 2030 Capacity Plan,” accusing the initiative of including “race- and sex-based employment quotas” in order to achieve a more diverse faculty. (The horror, right?)
“Public employers are bound by federal laws that prohibit racial and other employment discrimination,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Institutional directives that use race- and sex-based hiring practices expose employers to legal risk under federal law.”
So, the federal government is, once again, meddling in the affairs of a private institution simply because that institution has an interest in building a faculty that consists of non-white people and women, as if the MAGA mind simply can’t conceive of the value diverse demographics bring to education. Of course, the DOJ won’t say flat-out that it’s largely worried about white people, especially white men, being discriminated against, but it appears its investigation stems from UC’s intention to recruit qualified faculty members from other institutions of learning that white students weren’t likely to attend.
From The Hill:
The university previously said it wants to recruit at least 40 percent of its graduate students from its undergraduate programs and other Hispanic serving institutions, historically Black colleges and universities and tribal colleges and universities. The university also wants to hire 1,100 ladder-rank faculty members, which are full-time professors with a tenure track.
The school has said the increase in hiring will “diversify the faculty because new hires are more diverse than existing faculty.”
The Justice Department’s investigation will determine if the university has “engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination based on race, sex, and other protected characteristics, pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”
If found guilty, the university could face a fine and pay damages to affected individuals.
UC responded to the news of the DOJ’s investigation by welcoming it while appearing to stick to its guns in terms of its plan to practice diversity.
“The University of California is committed to fair and lawful processes in all of our programs and activities, consistent with federal and state anti-discrimination laws. The University also aims to foster a campus environment where everyone is welcomed and supported. We will work in good faith with the Department of Justice as it conducts its investigation,” a UC spokesperson said in a statement.
The Trump administration has also faced (and lost) its share of legal battles as states and institutions have resisted President Donald Trump’s DEI crackdown and filed lawsuits over federal funding losses.
The Trump administration consistently moves to destroy both diversity and education. It’s a weird, counterintuitive way to go about making America great again.
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