The University of California has stopped requiring diversity statements, earning mixed reactions

Yahoo

20-03-2025

Administrators of the University of California higher educational system on Wednesday eliminated an element of its hiring process that required job applicants to submit diversity statements, reported the Los Angeles Times.
This change affects multiple campuses affiliated with the University of California, including UCLA, UC-Berkeley and UC-Irvine, among others.
Under the previous requirement, job seekers had to submit essays describing their commitment to and previous work supporting diversity in their fields, including in matters of race, gender and sexual orientation. The requirement dates back to the early 2000s, though it went mainstream in the 2010s.
'The requirement to submit a diversity statement may lead applicants to focus on an aspect of their candidacy that is outside their expertise or prior experience,' wrote Katherine Newman, UC provost, in a letter published Wednesday.
'Our values and commitment to our mission have not changed,' announced Janet Reilly, chair of the University of California Board of Regents. 'We can continue to effectively serve our communities from a variety of life experiences, backgrounds and points of view without requiring diversity statements.'
Reactions to the change have been mixed. The diversity statement requirement was controversial during its time, accumulating a great deal of negative media attention and even a lawsuit.
Some Californians are pleased by the change. The Hill reported that UC-Berkeley rejected 76% of qualified applicants solely because of their diversity statements in 2020. Professors disparaged the diversity statement as a political 'loyalty oath' or 'litmus test.'
'Rather than helping achieve inclusion, these DEI rubrics act as a filter for those with nonconforming views,' wrote UC-Davis mathematics professor Abigail Thompson.
Other Californians were upset by the change. Brian Soucek, a UC-Davis law professor and longtime diversity advocate, told the Los Angeles Times that he believes the removal of the statement is a capitulation to the Trump administration.
'It can only be explained as an attempt at advanced appeasement of the Trump administration's current threats,' Soucek said. 'There is nothing else that possibly motivates this change in general or this change being done in this particular way at the current moment.'
It is possible that financial tensions may underscore the University of California's decision. The state of California recently announced an 8% budget cut to the University of California school system, per the National Review.
This, combined with the federal government's new policy preventing federally funded schools from using racial preferences as a factor affecting admissions, students and faculty, may have played a role in ending the diversity statement requirement at the University of California.
'Schools, including elementary, middle, and high schools, may no longer make decisions or operate programs based on race or race stereotypes in any of these categories or they risk losing access to federal funds,' stated the Department of Education in a press release.
The University of California is not the first institution to comply with the Trump administration's effort to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion-based hiring and admissions.
Other universities have:
Scrubbed language like 'bias,' 'racism,' 'gender' and 'women' from their databases.
Eliminated DEI offices and programming, including centers for belonging, which are common at universities.