It’s hard to feel too bad for people when they throw themselves under the bus. And that’s exactly what the American Association of University Professors, an organization that collectively represents professors, has just done — by caving to the diversity, equity, and inclusion movement at the expense of its own academic freedom.
First, here’s the context. Many colleges and universities across the United States have implemented mandatory “diversity statements,” in which prospective professors must sign pledges committing to these ideological principles or they may have it held against them in the hiring process.
As the nonpartisan Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression explains, these pledges go far beyond simply pledging not to discriminate in the classroom and instead often serve as something of an ideological litmus test — clearly at odds with the concept of academic freedom that’s constitutionally mandated at public universities and often promised at private universities. (Disclaimer: I do some freelance consulting work with FIRE.)
But the American Association of University Professors just came out in support of these mandates, bizarrely claiming they are somehow compatible with academic freedom.
“[We reject] the notion that the use of DEI criteria for faculty evaluation is categorically incompatible with academic freedom,” its statement reads. “Using DEI statements in appointment, reappointment, tenure, and promotion processes can help foster diversity and its positive outcomes.”
The group justifies this argument in part by arguing that current faculty would have a say in the imposition of DEI pledges and mandates, claiming that it’s somehow then not a violation of an individual professor’s academic freedom. FIRE pointed out the absurdity of this position, posting, “Translation: ‘Being forced to pledge allegiance to a political viewpoint isn’t a problem if a majority of faculty get to help impose the mandatory view.’”
Whether they realize it or not, these academics are supporting the erosion of their own rights.
Mandatory DEI pledges cannot coexist with academic freedom because DEI is itself an ideology. While concepts such as “diversity,” “equity,” and “inclusion” sound innocuous, they’re actually not. Routinely wrapped into DEI are controversial ideas such as affirmative action, racially self-segregated “affinity groups,” “microaggression” training, and much more. Even “equity” itself is deeply controversial, often described in contrast to the traditional American value of “equality.”
All of these are things to which many reasonable people strongly object, and if a professor isn’t free to dissent from this ideology without facing professional consequences, then the notion that professors still have academic freedom is laughable.
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To be clear, universities can absolutely require professors to treat students in a nondiscriminatory manner. But DEI goes much further than that, and ironically, in some cases, such as affirmative action, DEI ideology even advocates discriminatory treatment. And academic freedom also protects the rights of left-wing professors to support DEI ideology in their own work.
But forced conformity to the radical DEI agenda is not, in fact, remotely compatible with academic freedom. That somehow even the American Association of University Professors can’t see this shows just how far modern academia has fallen.
Brad Polumbo is the co-founder of BASEDPolitics and the host of the Brad vs Everyone podcast.