College requires ‘deep commitment’ to ‘marginalized’ from new hires

Applicants for a vacant professorship at Providence College must “demonstrate a deep commitment to…marginalized” groups, according to a recent job posting.

“As our student body, and sociology majors in particular, grow increasingly diverse, we have a strong preference for publicly engaged scholarship, and candidates with interests in student-centered pedagogical and mentoring practices,” a description for the school’s open tenure-track Assistant Professor of Sociology position declares.

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“Moreover, as students of color and their allies have demanded in college and university protests across the nation, we support the students’ desire to hire faculty who demonstrate a deep commitment to and proven ability in supporting the success of students from historically marginalized economic, social, and cultural groups,” the job description states, adding that preference will be given to candidates with an expertise in “critical race theory and intersectionality.”

Two recent protests, one in February 2016 and another in November of that same year, rocked Providence College, the latter of which resulted in the resignation of esteemed professor Anthony Esolen, who was subjected to public humiliation and a protest outside his office for writing an article critical of his employer’s diversity agenda.

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Esolen was even rebuked by his colleagues in a “faculty statement” that expressed support for student protesters and condemned his writing as “racist, xenophobic, misogynist, homophobic” and involving “religiously chauvinist statements.”

The February protest, on the other hand, which lasted 13 hours, ended with the school’s president agreeing to sign a ten-page list of demands, which included several provisions for mandatory “cross-cultural competence training” for faculty.

UPDATE: Associate Vice President for Public Affairs Steven Maurano told Campus Reform that "this is not a requirement that [Providence College] wants to implement across the board." 

"The longer answer is that this is a position in our Sociology Department and they are specifically looking for a professor 'with expertise in W.E.B. DuBois, critical race theory and intersectionality and/or economic sociology,'" he added. "In order to do the work required and teach the necessary courses, that department desires a new hire who 'demonstrates a deep commitment to and proven ability in supporting the success of students from historically marginalized economic, social, and cultural groups.'"  

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