For Star subscribers: The University of Arizona spends $1.6 million a year on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. A state Senate bill that would have made DEI programs illegal narrowly failed.
Kathryn Palmer Despite political backlash, the University of Arizona is standing firm in its commitment to its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, which the school says are key to its recruitment and retention strategy.
Why DEI is under attackAccording to the Chronicle of Higher Education, 21 states, including Arizona, introduced some form of legislation that would put restrictions on DEI programs in 2023. As of June 1, lawmakers in Florida, Tennessee, North Dakota and Texas had passed some of those proposals into law.Arizona’s Senate Bill 1694 narrowly failed to make it out of the House last month. Republican Sen.
Advocates say DEI programs and trainings can help foster a more welcoming campus environment in addition to bolstering recruitment and retention efforts. Eliminating DEI offices and programming, which are typically designed to help historically marginalized students matriculate and succeed in higher education, has surfaced in the national political culture wars as one of several proposed and enacted strategies — others include banning certain books and courses — to assert political control of ideologies taught or promoted in schools.
The U.S. Department of Education designates the UA as a Hispanic Serving Institution because 25% or more of its full-time, undergraduate student body identifies as Hispanic, and the university has launched numerous programs to recruit more low-income and first-generation students as well as underrepresented faculty.
Sometimes, these investments in DEI have come after public criticisms of a campus’ intolerance of marginalized students or faculty. It happened at the University of Missouri in response to weeks of high-profile, anti-racism campus protests in 2015. Although it didn’t receive near the media attention, one year later in 2016, students at the UA raised concerns about the treatment of marginalized students on campus during a faculty listening tour.
Among other functions, the office provides support for outreach and retention efforts, provides resources to those reporting bias concerns, and is in the process of developing a diversity strategic plan. It’s working with departments and other units across campus to, according to its website, “move even further beyond rhetoric towards sustainable, accountable, action-oriented practices.”
Data from the UA’s Office of Equity and Inclusion also shows that between 2012 and 2021, retention rates improved for biracial, white, first-generation and low-income students, among other groups.
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