United States universities are obsessed with hiring politically correct professors through mandatory “diversity statements,” according to an explosive report released in March by the Oregon Association of Scholars (OAS) and reported by The College Fix.
Coming from one of the nation’s most liberal states, the scholars can argue that they know first-hand what they are writing about.
Their report focuses on how universities and colleges use “diversity statements” and their insistence that professors agree with them, as the means by which post-secondary institutions “weed out non left-wing scholars” and hire liberals.
These diversity statements are integral to liberal ideology the OAS argues, arguing that it is the doctrine of group victimization and their subsequent claims for group-based entitlements that mark diversity statements as “partisan litmus tests” to ensure ideological purity of faculty.
The association notes that it is now routine for universities to provide a diversity statement template that is like a checklist for progressive causes. These templates insist that professors will wholeheartedly agree to “keep the white students from dominating all classroom discussions,” and “reflect a commitment to queer visibility,” while advising students against the temptation to “thoughtlessly reproduce the standard white and Western model of legitimate knowledge.”
More than 20 colleges enforce a requirement that faculty demonstrate their commitment to the ideals of “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” the OAS found. However, they say this is only the tip of the political correctness iceberg as many post-secondary institutions do not directly enforce the diversity requirement but administer it through coercion and that many institutions demand adherence to diversity statements for entrance to Ph.D. programs or when applying for a university job.
The University of Oregon used a diversity statement scheme like this when it ordered that a faculty member’s teaching must “reflect the diversity of the field, including the racial, ethnic, and gender diversity of its scholars and practitioners.” The university also demands that professors exercise good faith in “incorporating issues of equity, implicit bias, and cultural understanding in new faculty searches.”
Outside of Oregon, the the 10-campus University of California has also insisted upon mandatory diversity statements from new professors to their universities, specifically asking candidates whether they considered “race, gender, economic justice or inequality” in their research.
The evidence mounts in the OAS report, as it notes the Portland State University’s Diversity Action Council distributing a list of 44 questions for measuring “cultural competencies” during the interview process. At Carnegie Mellon University, on the other hand, racial preference is outrageously present as candidates are given a minimum of assessment if they are “a member of a historically underrepresented group in their field.”
The Oregon Health & Science University even insists that faculty participate in diversity events and tracks their commitment.
“Today the mandatory ‘diversity statement’ threatens to become a ‘fifth document’ in faculty hiring and promotion at many universities (in addition to cover letter, curriculum vitae, research statement, and teaching statement),” states the OAS, who argue that this trend runs contrary to academic freedom and research excellence. It envisions scholars who “spend more time signaling their zealous support and making sure not to challenge students in ways that might be construed as a threat to this ideology.”
