U Florida terminates DEI positions

[Langue_doc]

University of Florida eliminates DEI staff to comply with state law
The state flagship school announced the cuts Friday, but said it is 'unwavering in our commitment to universal human dignity'

If the above is behind a paywall, here's another article.

[Wahoo Redux]

Is it possible to be disgusted by the politics behind this but not entirely unhappy that these positions were eliminated?

[Ruralguy]

Yes, that is possible, although I have the feeling there is more to that comment than asking whether those events and feelings can actually exist.

[Wahoo Redux]

Yes, that is possible, although I have the feeling there is more to that comment than asking whether those events and feelings can actually exist.

Well, yeah, of course.

I've posted before my series of anecdata about DEI a couple of times.  Some hiring protocols and decisions; an instance of double-standards on a tenure decision; a student-to-PhD contract for someone simply not qualified; things said by students and faculty in private that would probably have gotten them expelled or fired except that these comments were about "white people"; and a number of incompetent, silly, and/or aggressive training sessions which kind of turned my head and also turned my tenured and full prof wife, who was pretty avowedly "liberal" about DEI at one point in time, into a doubter herself.

The big one that still sticks in my craw is our time at a little Div III rural, 4th-rate uni.  Worst pay in the state; no raises in years.  Terrible technology.  Buildings literally falling apart.  Unable to hire FT faculty, TT or NTT. Questionable reputation.  Terrible morale. Open enrollment for many students who should never grace a college classroom...

And then the new prez hires a "Chief Diversity Officer" at a salary at least worth three FT faculty.

What we got were endless "climate surveys," all focused on the perception of race; a few memos; and more workshops. No increase in people of color on campus.  A continuation of petty racist vandalism that enflamed the students.

And this was kind of the thing, I guess.  These were country kids, but by and large they did not have a problem with race, gender, or sexual orientation.  Sure, we had someone who was scrawling racist crap on the stalls in some of the bathrooms, but this really energized and enraged the students, who protested endlessly.  There really was no need of a CDO.

I think they stopped bringing busloads of minority high school students to campus because, I assume, the expense, and because once these city kids got a look at the town, there was no way they were going there.

Anyway, I could go on (for instance, in my experience dedicated minority lounges, study rooms etc. in practice mean that students of color have a safe zone where they can feel comfortable; in reality, minority safe zones tend to isolate students of color from the rest of the student body, hindering the kind of "color blind" culture we want).

And then we often----not always, but often----have tremendous resistance to examining DEI from some corners.  We often have angry responses to any challenges to DEI, no matter how relevant or justified.

So, while I am 100% in favor of diversity, equity, and inclusion, I am extremely dubious of the bureaucratic construct of "DEI."  It seems to cause more anxiety and toxicity around race, gender, and orientation, not less.

I just don't think those are the sorts of things fueling Florida's hysterical reactions.   

[apl68]

Yes, that is possible, although I have the feeling there is more to that comment than asking whether those events and feelings can actually exist.

Well, yeah, of course.

I've posted before my series of anecdata about DEI a couple of times.  Some hiring protocols and decisions; an instance of double-standards on a tenure decision; a student-to-PhD contract for someone simply not qualified; things said by students and faculty in private that would probably have gotten them expelled or fired except that these comments were about "white people"; and a number of incompetent, silly, and/or aggressive training sessions which kind of turned my head and also turned my tenured and full prof wife, who was pretty avowedly "liberal" about DEI at one point in time, into a doubter herself.

The big one that still sticks in my craw is our time at a little Div III rural, 4th-rate uni.  Worst pay in the state; no raises in years.  Terrible technology.  Buildings literally falling apart.  Unable to hire FT faculty, TT or NTT. Questionable reputation.  Terrible morale. Open enrollment for many students who should never grace a college classroom...

And then the new prez hires a "Chief Diversity Officer" at a salary at least worth three FT faculty.

What we got were endless "climate surveys," all focused on the perception of race; a few memos; and more workshops. No increase in people of color on campus.  A continuation of petty racist vandalism that enflamed the students.

And this was kind of the thing, I guess.  These were country kids, but by and large they did not have a problem with race, gender, or sexual orientation.  Sure, we had someone who was scrawling racist crap on the stalls in some of the bathrooms, but this really energized and enraged the students, who protested endlessly.  There really was no need of a CDO.

I think they stopped bringing busloads of minority high school students to campus because, I assume, the expense, and because once these city kids got a look at the town, there was no way they were going there.

Anyway, I could go on (for instance, in my experience dedicated minority lounges, study rooms etc. in practice mean that students of color have a safe zone where they can feel comfortable; in reality, minority safe zones tend to isolate students of color from the rest of the student body, hindering the kind of "color blind" culture we want).

And then we often----not always, but often----have tremendous resistance to examining DEI from some corners.  We often have angry responses to any challenges to DEI, no matter how relevant or justified.

So, while I am 100% in favor of diversity, equity, and inclusion, I am extremely dubious of the bureaucratic construct of "DEI."  It seems to cause more anxiety and toxicity around race, gender, and orientation, not less.

I just don't think those are the sorts of things fueling Florida's hysterical reactions.   

And that, I'm afraid, is the sort of reputation that DEI initiatives have by and large earned for themselves in many places.  It really does sound counterproductive. 

[FishProf]

We are having meetings on campus about a recent violent occurrence, and there are different groups scheduled to meet with the outside consultants.

ALANA/BIPOC has 2 different meeting times set aside, all (other) students get 1, Faculty and staff 1, and athletes 1.

There are rumblings afoot about why this is the case, and they run the gamut from coddling to racist demographics.

[apl68]

We are having meetings on campus about a recent violent occurrence, and there are different groups scheduled to meet with the outside consultants.

ALANA/BIPOC has 2 different meeting times set aside, all (other) students get 1, Faculty and staff 1, and athletes 1.

There are rumblings afoot about why this is the case, and they run the gamut from coddling to racist demographics.

You probably don't want to give details about the recent incident for privacy reasons, but could you give an indication of how violent "violent" was in this case?  Is it an isolated incident, or has there been a cluster of incidents recently?  Do you get the feeling that the administration is serious about trying to deal with what's going on, or do the meetings give off a "we're making the expected gestures" vibe?

[FishProf]

on campus shooting, no students involved.  Community spillover.

[apl68]

There have been a lot of shootings on campuses in the news lately around the country.  The violence is just getting to be everywhere.

[MarathonRunner]

The DEIIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, Indegeneity, accessibility) staff at my doctoral university accomplished a lot. One was a summer program, at the university, for high school students from traditionally underrepresented groups to explore what careers in certain fields might look like, and to show them such careers were possible. A huge success! Another success was implementing universal design for all new courses, so that accessibility wasn't an afterthought, or something profs had to worry about if they suddenly had a student who needed certain accommodations. Instead, courses were designed to be accessible from the ground up. But I'm in Canada. The U.S. seems to be very different. Although some posters in Canada seem to have radically different experiences. Maybe because I'm in the health sciences and I'm Indigenous (Métis) but I see a lot of good being done by DEIIA staff and committees.

[Wahoo Redux]

The DEIIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, Indegeneity, accessibility) staff at my doctoral university accomplished a lot. One was a summer program[...]

Maybe because I'm in the health sciences and I'm Indigenous (Métis) but I see a lot of good being done by DEIIA staff and committees.

Thank you for being specific.  I've asked a couple of times for examples of what DEI peeps actually do.  I don't want to be one of those people with an inflexible opinion based on limited firsthand knowledge.

The summer program sounds good.  Did it result in an increase of minority students?

I have not liked bureaucratically imposed curriculum or syllabus design; they are usually done for the right reasons but tend to make teaching more difficult and are often more cosmetic than helpful----at least in my experience.  I don't know exactly what you mean above, however.

And I am happy to concede without a struggle that my perspective on DEI might be much different if I were a not a middle-aged WASP, so I do try to keep that in mind.

Other specific examples of DEI work?  Anyone?

[Hegemony]

We had a good DEI coordinator for a bit, before he got lured away by someone who could pay a reasonable wage. He chipped away at some of the bigotry of some of our more stick-in-the-mud codgers who run a few of our least diverse (no coincidence there) programs. I've heard what these folks say behind closed doors, and it's everything you'd imagine. The DEI guy was actually a good and witty respondent and could anticipate what these guys would say, and he might have unbent a few minds a tiny bit.

But then he left and we got a standard-issue bureaucrat who required us all to watch anodyne videos ("Discrimination is unlawful. Be careful not to discriminate." Etc.). So much for that. I think for DEI initiatives to work well, they need to be run by people who are cleverer and cannier and more energetic than your average administrator. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes not.

[marshwiggle]

We had a good DEI coordinator for a bit, before he got lured away by someone who could pay a reasonable wage. He chipped away at some of the bigotry of some of our more stick-in-the-mud codgers who run a few of our least diverse (no coincidence there) programs. I've heard what these folks say behind closed doors, and it's everything you'd imagine. The DEI guy was actually a good and witty respondent and could anticipate what these guys would say, and he might have unbent a few minds a tiny bit.

So I'm curious. Other that those "stick-in-the-mud codgers", what value did he provide everywhere else? As those codgers retire, what else needs to be done that requires ongoing staff and infrastructure, presumably in perpetuity?

[apl68]

The DEIIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, Indegeneity, accessibility) staff at my doctoral university accomplished a lot. One was a summer program, at the university, for high school students from traditionally underrepresented groups to explore what careers in certain fields might look like, and to show them such careers were possible. A huge success! Another success was implementing universal design for all new courses, so that accessibility wasn't an afterthought, or something profs had to worry about if they suddenly had a student who needed certain accommodations. Instead, courses were designed to be accessible from the ground up. But I'm in Canada. The U.S. seems to be very different. Although some posters in Canada seem to have radically different experiences. Maybe because I'm in the health sciences and I'm Indigenous (Métis) but I see a lot of good being done by DEIIA staff and committees.

Now that sounds like some useful initiatives that could bring a lot to benefit some without needlessly alienating others.  So it looks like there is such a thing as DEI done right.

[marshwiggle]

One was a summer program, at the university, for high school students from traditionally underrepresented groups to explore what careers in certain fields might look like, and to show them such careers were possible. A huge success!

Now that sounds like some useful initiatives that could bring a lot to benefit some without needlessly alienating others.  So it looks like there is such a thing as DEI done right.

That kind of thing has been around for decades, long before "DEI". I used to help with such a program to encourage girls in high school to consider STEM, and that was in the 90's or so, as I recall.