Facing DEI scrutiny, University of Michigan abandons ‘diversity statements’ in hiring

• The University of Michigan will no longer use diversity statements in decisions about faculty hiring, promotions and tenure 
• Some regents are criticizing the U-M diversity, equity and inclusion programs and roughly $250 million in spending
• President-Elect Donald Trump has voiced opposition on DEI efforts, other colleges have cut DEI programming

ANN ARBOR — Amid a national debate over diversity, equity and inclusion programs, the University of Michigan announced Thursday it would no longer solicit “diversity statements” as part of faculty hiring, promotion and tenure. 

It's the first step in what could be a broader effort to scale back DEI at U-M, which has reportedly spent roughly $250 million on related initiatives since 2016 and has one of the largest programs of its kind in the country.

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to go after what he and other conservatives contend are overly liberal universities by using the accreditation system to “impose real standards” and remove “all Marxist, diversity, equity and inclusion bureaucrats.”

The Trump administration and Republican-led Congress appear likely to use “whatever tools they can to have us yield to what they want us to do,” Chris Kolb, the university’s vice president for government relations, warned U-M Regents during a Thursday afternoon board meeting. 

“They will use whatever tools they can, including the cutting off of finances to make that happen.” 

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But U-M students and faculty have launched new fights to retain DEI initiatives and argue the university should not bow to political pressure.

More than 100 people marched from outside President Santa Ono’s university home to the administration building on Thursday, chanting: “Regents, regents, you can’t hide, you know we want DEI.” 

“We go to a university that has diversity, equity and inclusion plastered on their websites, all over the walls of buildings,” said ​​Princess-J’Maria Mboup, speaker of the Black Student Union. “They attach these things as their core values, and to double back now would be egregious.”

U-M is the latest high-profile university to stop using diversity statements, which typically outline how new job or tenure candidates will contribute to an institution's approach to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences stopped requiring such statements this year. 

Provost Laurie McCauley announced the U-M decision Thursday morning in The University Record, which cited a faculty workgroup finding that using diversity statements in the hiring process could potentially limit freedom of expression and diversity of thought on campus. 

“Diversity, equity and inclusion are three of our core values at the university," McCauley said in a statement. "Our collective efforts in this area have produced important strides in opening opportunities for all people. As we pursue this challenging and complex work, we will continuously refine our approach.” 

U-M did not have a uniform policy on diversity statements before, according to the University Record, but individual units within the university had used them.

Sarah Hubbard, one of two Republican regents on the university board, praised the decision on social media.

“The time has come for implementation of this policy,” Hubbard wrote online. “We're taking steps in the right direction to restore diversity of thought and freedom of speech for everyone on campus.”

Speaking in Thursday’s board meeting, Hubbard said that ending diversity statements, adopting ‘institutional neutrality,’ and expanding financial aid “means we’re open for business for people for all walks of life and people should feel comfortable on this campus expressing diversity of thought and freedom of expression from places from throughout the state and throughout the world.” 

Hubbard had previously said she wanted the school to spend more on student scholarships rather than DEI. 

On Thursday, Ono also announced U-M would expand its tuition-free program called the Go Blue Guarantee. That change will cost an additional $8.8 million annually and allow another 2,200 students to receive aid across the school’s three campuses, according to a University Record story. 

U-M spokesperson Colleen Mastony told Bridge in an email the university has spent $236.2 million on DEI from fiscal year 2016 through 2023. That figure includes $64 million for the Go Blue Guarantee and Wolverine Pathways, which works with seventh through 12th graders in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Southfield and Ypsilanti. Students who complete Wolverine Pathways and are admitted to U-M Ann Arbor or U-M Dearborn receive free university tuition for four years.

Critics slam DEI ‘bureaucracy’ 

The decision to abandon diversity statements came despite an online petition – signed by more than 2,500 faculty, staff and students – urging leadership to “fully support” DEI efforts. 

“Supporting DEI does not mean that we cannot criticize some aspects of it, and it does not mean that DEI initiatives as they currently exist are perfect,” the letter states. “However, we cannot deny the real, material improvements that DEI programs have accomplished for so many who are part of our campus community.” 

Republican regents have criticized the school’s DEI “bureaucracy” and spending, which has totaled roughly a quarter of a billion dollars over the past eight years, according to a New York Times Magazine article that cited an internal university presentation.

As of 2021, U-M had 163 DEI personnel -- the largest staff of its kind in the country, according to a study by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that has targeted such initiatives as "bloat" that takes away resources from academics. 

"Rather than being an effective tool for welcoming students from different backgrounds, DEI personnel may be better understood as a signal of adherence to ideological, political, and activist goals," Heritage foundation authors concluded.

U-M efforts are currently overseen by Tabbye Chavous, Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer, who defended what the university is calling Diversity 2.0 in a recent op-ed for the Michigan Chronicle.

"At U-M, we’re acknowledging the real and unique concerns of Black students (including anti-Black racism), and working to be responsive to them," she wrote, saying Black enrollment has increased 87% over the past five years.

"So, let’s be very clear: those critics (like Heritage) who say they want to dismantle DEI work because they care about Black or minoritized students are gaslighting you."

Regents are responsible for approving the university’s budget. If the administration were to recommend cuts, Republicans would need support from Democrat regents, who hold a 6-2 majority on the board. 

Mboup, of the Black Student Union, said students will continue to  “voice critiques of DEI with the intention of strengthening it, not eliminating it.” 

Thursday’s meeting was the last scheduled public meeting for the Board of Regents before Trump is inaugurated. 

Regents did not announce additional budget decisions Thursday about the future of DEI programming and positions. Generally, they approve budgets by June for the next fiscal year. 

In states where lawmakers have passed anti-DEI laws, schools have closed DEI offices, removed programming and eliminated staff who work on DEI efforts.

“Ultimately, DEI work and the values that animate it are central to who we are and who our world needs us to be at this moment,” associate professor Melissa Borja told regents during the meeting. “Supporting DEI is a chance for the University of Michigan to truly be the leaders and best.”

U-M diversity

U-M has been outspoken on how a 2006 state prohibition on affirmative action has made admission decisions challenging. 

Black or African American students make up 6% of U-M incoming fall 2024 undergraduate class, according to a U-M September report. 

Adele C. Brumfield, vice provost for enrollment management, said in the report that “U-M has steadfastly been working within a race-neutral framework to attract, recruit and enroll talented students from all backgrounds.

“We are proud of the strides that we have made, however there is still more work to be done,” she wrote. 

The Supreme Court effectively banned affirmative action in most higher education settings in 2023. U-M submitted a friend-of-the-court brief to the Supreme Court, explaining its own attempt at race-neutral admissions as both an “experiment” and “cautionary tale.” 

In the legal filing, U-M attorneys noted the school’s many efforts to build a diverse class including scholarship programs and changes to recruitment efforts. But the university said many of its schools and colleges have nevertheless experienced a “substantial drop” in racial and ethnic diversity since the 2006 ban.