University of Virginia AAUP chapter urges halt to board’s elimination of DEI programs
The University of Virginia’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) recently called for the board of visitors to stop a process of eliminating DEI practices.
The university is also under a Department of Justice investigation concerning DEI.
The University of Virginia’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) recently called for the board of visitors to stop a process of eliminating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices.
The organization made the request in a June 5 letter, Virginia Public Media reported. The letter does not appear on the group’s website and does not seem to have been made public.
[RELATED: UVA spends $20 million each year on DEI personnel: report]
Members of the organization have criticized the board’s actions for capitulating to ideology and not to legislation.
“There’s nothing passed by Congress about stopping DEI programming at universities. There’s nothing passed in the Virginia Legislature restricting DEI programming at universities,” Walt Heinecke, a previous president of AAUP chapter and a current member of the executive committee, told Virginia Public Media.
Instead, the board’s actions have answered “political, ideological directives.” Heinecke is likely referring to President Trump’s anti-DEI executive order from January as well as statements from Gov. Glenn Youngkin who has repeatedly called for an end to DEI at state universities.
The chapter’s complaint mirrors that of the AAUP’s Virginia Conference June 12 letter to the Virginia General Assembly, regarding Gov. Youngkin appointments to the board of visitors.
The letter calls for any future Youngkin picks to be denied, one reason being that current Youngkin appointments “[i]mpose ideological litmus tests on curricula, faculty hiring, and administrative appointments, violating principles of academic freedom and institutional autonomy.”
The university’s board of visitors voted in March to eliminate the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and announced intentions to abide by President Trump’s anti-DEI executive order.
However, in April, the U.S. Department of Justice said it was investigating the school in response to alleged university violations of civil rights law. President Trump’s executive order ties promoting DEI as tantamount to racial discrimination.
“UVA has not dismantled its DEI framework — it has merely rebranded it to evade legal scrutiny. What the law prohibits, UVA simply renamed,” Megan Redshaw, Counsel at America First Legal, which filed the complaint, said.
“We are grateful the DOJ has taken our findings seriously and is taking action to hold UVA accountable. No institution that receives taxpayer funds is above the law,” she continued.
Many schools have recently eliminated or rebranded DEI offices in response to the president’s anti-DEI executive order, including Middle Tennessee State University, the University of Cincinnati, and the Arizona Board of Regents.
Campus Reform has contacted UVA’s AAUP chapter and the board of visitors for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
