The University of Michigan pioneered diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives long before “DEI” became common parlance. Today, Michigan has the largest DEI bureaucracy of any large public university in the nation. But after spending a quarter of a billion dollars on DEI since 2016, leadership isn’t sure their investment paid off.
The university’s regents and board are considering significant reforms to the school’s DEI initiative that would redirect efforts away from diversity statements in hiring and promotion and instead foster “recruitment programs and tuition guarantees for lower-income students.” As of Dec. 5, the university “will no longer solicit diversity statements as part of faculty hiring, promotions, and tenure.”
Though other schools have reformed their DEI practices under pressure from state legislatures, Michigan could be one of the “first selective public universities to…
