Public universities in
Arizona
are increasingly requiring job applicants to include a statement of their commitment to
diversity
when applying for faculty positions, according to a new report.
The
report
from the Goldwater Institute, an Arizona-based conservative think tank, found that 81% of faculty job postings for Arizona State University required applicants to submit a statement of their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (
DEI
). Diversity commitment statements were also required by 73% of postings at Northern Arizona University, and 28% of postings at the University of Arizona.
“DEI programs and ‘statements’ do not produce free expression nor more diversity of thought, equal opportunities, and a culture that includes everyone in school activities because DEI’s guiding principles are rooted in the racially discriminatory worldview known as critical race theory,” Goldwater Institute senior fellow and Heritage Foundation education fellow Jonathan Butcher wrote in the report’s preface.
Butcher called the findings a “wake-up call” for lawmakers to act.
“Not only are schools saturated in the DEI dogma but this dogma has no intent on restoring free expression on campus nor will DEI make postsecondary institutions places that allow for the pursuit of truth,” he added.
The report highlights what has become a growing trend in academia that is hardly limited to the Grand Canyon State. An American Enterprise Institute report from 2021 revealed that at least 20% of colleges and universities across the country required job applicants to include a diversity statement.
Proponents of diversity, equity, and inclusion say that the programs associated with DEI and institutional commitments to it are necessary to combat systemic racism and provide a diverse and welcoming environment for people of all backgrounds.
But among the many concerns from critics of requiring such statements, is that they could be used by institutions to filter out job applicants who are insufficiently progressive, thereby maintaining the overwhelmingly left-wing bent of academia.
“In general terms, the problem is that a large number of colleges and universities nationwide are actively screening out prospective candidates who are insufficiently aligned with left-leaning causes,” the Goldwater Institute report says.
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The report added: “Educators should not be forced to volunteer their personal opinions on controversial issues to satisfy the initiatives of unelected bureaucrats simply to work in a university.”
The Washington Examiner has contacted all three Arizona public universities for comment.
