Another Princeton administrator working in the university’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) office has resigned over an alleged lack of support from university leadership.
Jordan Turner, a “Black queer non-binary person” who uses “they/them” pronouns, is the third DEI official who has left Princeton in recent months, according to The Daily Princetonian. The other two, Dr. Jim Scholl and Dr. Avina Ross, resigned for similar reasons.
3 DEI administrators at Princeton—2 of whom are they/thems—resign over an alleged lack of support.
One says the school showed “a complete lack of empathy” by asking “them” to work on the train while they were en route to get the monkey pox vaccine.https://t.co/DXTXL2QQNI
— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) December 21, 2022
Turner joined the University in May as the Associate Director of Athletics for the DEI and was hired to oversee “all aspects of DEI education and training for student-athletes, coaches and staff with Princeton Athletics,” The Daily Princetonian reported.
Turner resigned in September citing the lack of support in implementing equity-based policies in the university’s athletic groups. Turner tried to implement a “trans-inclusion” training initiative on the school’s sports teams but the university allegedly “put off all training for a year with a plan to revisit at a later unspecified date.”
“I … came to Princeton to create a more just and equitable playing field for all,” Turner told The Princetonian in an interview. “It didn’t feel like the intention was for me to be fully supported in my role. The role of equity in athletics is critical to the future of sports at the post-secondary level.” (RELATED: Major University Removes ‘Bias’ Reporting System After Legal Challenge)
Turner said the university’s alleged resistance to the ideas created a “highly macro-aggressive” and “hostile” work environment. “I was hospitalized because of just how stressful the work environment became and I had little support,” Turner said.
Scholl and Ross were also interviewed by The Princetonian about their former role in the University and why they left.
Scholl chaired the University’s Transgender Health Team at University Health Services (UHS) and served as the Preventions Programs Manager at the Sexual Harassment/Assault Advising, Resources and Education (SHARE) office. Ross was SHARE’s Prevention Curriculum Assessment Manager and Associate Director.
Scholl, who identifies as “queer” and also uses “they/them” pronouns, was hired in May 2021 and resigned in September 2022 because of the university’s alleged lack of progress in helping complete DEI goals. Scholl said work also became “overwhelming” during the pandemic when the university asked Scholl, and other staff, to pick up extra work.
Scholl also did some work with the university’s Strength in Coaching on Relationships, Respect, and Equality (SCORRE) program for athletes where varsity representatives and coaches were taught about DEI-related topics. But the program was reportedly not well received and Scholl said some teams only took part in the training because they were required to.
“We weren’t often met with gratitude,” Scholl said, adding that some viewed the program as a “punishment.”
Meanwhile, Ross was hired in November 2019 and resigned in September 2021. She also cited a lack of support from the University and became disgruntled when the University initially denied her request for a promotion.
Ross said she was eventually granted the promotion after receiving competing job offers. She described the experience as “traumatic” and implied that not being granted a promotion “is something that BIPOC people experience in higher education all the time, at the hands of white leadership.”