Have we hit the high-water mark of social-justice loyalty pledges? The signs are encouraging for those of us who prefer to move through life without declaring fealty to political ideologies. Mandatory diversity, equity, and inclusion statements (DEI), which have become increasingly de rigueur political litmus tests for hiring at academic institutions, suffered a significant setback last week when Arizona's public universities unceremoniously dumped their use going forward.
"The Arizona Board of Regents said Tuesday the state's public universities have dropped the use of diversity, equity and inclusion statements in job applications," Ray Stern of The Arizona Republic reported on August 8. "In statements to The Arizona Republic, spokespeople from the Board of Regents, which oversees the university system, and Arizona State University said that 'DEI statements' were 'never' required. However, examples of job postings shows this is not true."
