{"id":2245735,"date":"2024-05-16T07:26:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T11:26:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mit-breaks-with-dei-insanity-in-faculty-hiring-but-is-it-too-late\/"},"modified":"2024-05-16T07:31:18","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T11:31:18","slug":"mit-breaks-with-dei-insanity-in-faculty-hiring-but-is-it-too-late","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mit-breaks-with-dei-insanity-in-faculty-hiring-but-is-it-too-late\/","title":{"rendered":"MIT Takes a Stand Against DEI Extremes in Faculty Recruitment: Is the Shift Timely?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmit-breaks-with-dei-insanity-in-faculty-hiring-but-is-it-too-late%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2245735&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Massachusetts Institute\u200c of\u2062 Technology (MIT) recently ended the use of \u2064diversity statements\u200d in faculty hiring, setting a trend against DEI practices in \u2063elite universities. This move, though seen as a step\u200b to safeguard its\u2064 reputation, highlights a broader concern of DEI&#8217;s impact on academia and the erosion of academic freedom in American higher education. MIT&#8217;s\u200d decision to stop using diversity \u2063statements in faculty recruitment reflects \u200da shift away \u2064from DEI practices in prestigious universities. While aimed \u2063at preserving\u200c its reputation, this\u2064 action underscores the \u2064broader issue of DEI&#8217;s influence on academia and\u2062 the diminishing academic \u2063freedom\u200c in \u200dAmerican higher education.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) <a href=\"https:\/\/unherd.com\/newsroom\/mit-becomes-first-elite-university-to-ban-diversity-statements\/\">announced<\/a> this month that it has stopped using diversity statements for faculty hiring. While <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aol.com\/kansas-outlaws-dei-statements-university-124328776.html\">several public universities in red states<\/a> have already done the same, MIT was the first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-bill-to-tax-college-endowment-investments-in-hostile-chinese-companies-at-100-percent\/\" title=\"New Bill to Tax College Endowment Investments in Hostile Chinese Companies at 100 Percent\">elite private college<\/a> in a blue state to make such a move. However, it may be too little too late to salvage elite universities\u2019 reputation as one of the most illiberal places in America. <\/p>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/flashback-teacher-sues-school-board-after-being-fired-he-refused-to-compromise-on-trans-pronouns\/\" title=\"Flashback: Teacher Sues School Board After Being Fired \u2013 He Refused To Compromise on Trans Pronouns\">recent years<\/a>, American colleges and universities have fully embraced the \u201cdiversity, equity, and inclusion\u201d (DEI) ideology. They have spent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heritage.org\/education\/report\/diversity-university-dei-bloat-the-academy\">enormous resources<\/a> to build up DEI bureaucracy on campuses, often at the expense of academic excellence, and embedded DEI in many aspects of the college administration, including hiring. One of the most controversial DEI initiatives requires a DEI statement from anyone applying for a faculty position. The DEI statement typically includes three elements: affirming their belief in DEI, demonstrating their past commitment to DEI through examples, and pledging to do more for DEI in the future. If this sounds bad, it is because it reminds many people of the compelled loyalty pledge in totalitarian regimes such as the Soviet Union or Communist China. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-953281038\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-557463f4f46855624f256b9144132da0 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-557463f4f46855624f256b9144132da0\"><\/div>\n<p>DEI statements have become litmus tests for employment in higher education. All of the University of California\u2019s campuses even developed their own scoring systems, called \u201crubrics,\u201d to evaluate candidates\u2019 DEI statements. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/the-universitys-new-loyalty-oath-11576799749\">Abigail Thompson<\/a>, chair of the mathematics department at the University of California, Davis, \u201cTo score well [on a diversity statement], candidates must subscribe to a particular political ideology, one based on treating people not as unique individuals but as representatives of their gender and ethnic identities. \u2026 Rather than helping achieve inclusion, these DEI rubrics act as a filter for those with nonconforming views.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Initially, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-stunningly-corrupt-enterprise-jordan-peterson-blasts-academia-resigns-as-tenured-professor-at-university-of-toronto\/\" title=\"\u2018A Stunningly Corrupt Enterprise\u2019: Jordan Peterson Blasts Academia, Resigns As Tenured Professor At University of Toronto\">university hiring committees<\/a> would review job applicants\u2019 academic records alongside their DEI statements. However, in 2018, UC Berkeley launched an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/michaelpoliakoff\/2020\/01\/21\/how-diversity-screening-at-the-university-of-california-could-degrade-faculty-quality\/?sh=115c0d371598\">\u201cInitiative to Advance Faculty Diversity\u201d<\/a> across eight of the school\u2019s life science departments. It started to prescreen candidates solely based on their diversity scores derived from their diversity statement. According to a National Association of Scholars (NAS) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nas.org\/storage\/app\/media\/Reports\/Cluster%20Hiring\/Cluster_Hiring_Report_Diversity_Statement_Then_Dossier_V.pdf\">report<\/a>, the UC Berkeley approach reduced the pool of applicants from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nas.org\/storage\/app\/media\/Reports\/Cluster%20Hiring\/Cluster_Hiring_Report_Diversity_Statement_Then_Dossier_V.pdf\">893 to 214<\/a>, and \u201cfinalists also were asked to describe their DEI efforts [again] during their job talks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, the NAS <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nas.org\/storage\/app\/media\/Reports\/Cluster%20Hiring\/Cluster_Hiring_Report_Diversity_Statement_Then_Dossier_V.pdf\">report<\/a> found that the hiring committee at the Department of Psychology and Human Development at Vanderbilt University used the DEI statements as a prescreening tool and \u201creduced the initial applicant pool by around 85 percent, from 400 to around 60.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>MIT also incorporated the DEI statement into its hiring practices. In 2023, when MIT\u2019s Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering <a href=\"https:\/\/faculty-searches.mit.edu\/nse\/\">sought to hire<\/a> an assistant professor \u201cin fields from fundamental nuclear science to practical applications of nuclear technology in energy, security, and quantum engineering,\u201d it required applicants to submit \u201ca statement regarding their views on diversity, inclusion, and belonging, including past and current contributions as well as their vision and plans for the future in these areas.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-eadecd9bfe5f10f4c03cd5555ab9fc6c fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-eadecd9bfe5f10f4c03cd5555ab9fc6c\"><\/div>\n<p>But earlier this month, MIT became the first private elite college in a blue state to end the DEI statement mandate in hiring. MIT\u2019s embattled president, Sally Kornbluth, probably made the move out of self-preservation. Last December, House Republicans <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/us-news\/education\/harvard-mit-penn-presidents-antisemitism-congress-f39aacfe\">grilled<\/a> Kornbluth, along with Harvard President Claudine Gay and Penn President Liz Magill, over the anti-Israel protests and rising antisemitism on campuses. The three presidents\u2019 poor performances drew widespread criticism, especially from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/us-news\/education\/elite-universities-face-donor-revolt-over-mideast-conflict-6c93662f?mod=article_inline\">mega-donors<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Both Gay and Magill resigned from their positions. Kornbluth probably ended the DEI statement mandate in hiring to protect her job. <\/p>\n<p>Kornbluth\u2019s employment may be safe for now, but it is likely too late to reverse the damage DEI has done to places like MIT. Americans who hadn\u2019t paid close attention to universities\u2019 march to the far left have been shocked to see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-13340891\/columbia-palestine-protestors-buffet-spread-food.html\">privileged<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.israelhayom.com\/2019\/12\/02\/they-support-palestine-but-cant-find-it-on-a-map\/\">ignorant<\/a> American youth shout slogans that call for the elimination of Israel, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thefp.com\/p\/camping-with-columbia-communist-coachella\">set up encampments on campus<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/stephsvox\/status\/1785067258144047193?utm_source=substack&#038;utm_medium=email\">erect barriers<\/a> to prevent Jewish students from entering, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HamasAtrocities\/status\/1787432550505332830\">cause property damage<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thestustustudio\/status\/1786541753064931643?s=43&#038;t=IUXKKb_oVUT5LlG7QeZIXg\">openly incite violence<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0American public is equally dismayed that the adults supposed to be in charge of these elite universities abandoned their responsibility to protect students and academic freedom. All these adults have done is appease the lunatics and let them run the asylum. Classes were moved online, and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/axios\/status\/1787464332726382809\">commencement ceremonies<\/a> were canceled to try to stymie the chaos.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-9afb25c9533f01b5d31f8a4eed4a83ed fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-9afb25c9533f01b5d31f8a4eed4a83ed\"><\/div>\n<p>Campus protesters and administrators\u2019 cowardly responses showed the public that higher education is little more than an overpriced daycare. About <a href=\"https:\/\/r.search.yahoo.com\/_ylt=AwrFGo02ojtmMgQAO8tXNyoA;_ylu=Y29sbwNiZjEEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Nj\/RV=2\/RE=1716393783\/RO=10\/RU=https%3a%2f%2fwww.pewresearch.org%2fshort-reads%2f2022%2f04%2f12%2f10-facts-about-todays-college-graduates%2f%23%3a~%3atext%3dAs%2520of%2520December%25202021%252C%252041%2525%2520of%2520college%2520graduates%2cmarket%252C%2520but%2520have%2520since%2520returned%2520to%2520pre-pandemic%2520levels.\/RK=2\/RS=DMLB..c6Acmqm3Wj2tSwFLhZN5A-\">41 percent <\/a>of college graduates ages 22 to 27 are underemployed and unable to build a thriving life because the schools they attended didn\u2019t teach them marketable skills or how to think for themselves.<\/p>\n<p>Most Americans are losing faith in higher education. A recent Wall Street Journal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/americans-are-losing-faith-in-college-education-wsj-norc-poll-finds-3a836ce1?mod=hp_lead_pos6\">poll<\/a> found that 56 percent of Americans don\u2019t think a four-year degree is worth the money. The ongoing unrest and lawlessness on college campuses will only convince more American parents to find other education alternatives for their children rather than paying $70,000 or more a year for a college degree. <\/p>\n<p>A reckoning for higher education is coming, and the left has only themselves to blame.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-bf74675520c7ef07cbad8a850a02dcdf fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-bf74675520c7ef07cbad8a850a02dcdf\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MIT recently ceased the use of diversity statements in faculty recruitment, a shift seen in red state public universities. Being the first elite private college in a blue state to do so, MIT&#8217;s action may be insufficient to rescue the standing of elite universities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":536,"featured_media":2245736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-16-at-6.10.07%E2%80%AFAM.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2245735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-16-at-6.10.07%E2%80%AFAM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2245735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/536"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2245735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2245735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2245736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2245735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2245735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2245735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}