Federal Dollars Bankrolled University Diversity Hiring
Earlier this year, Deborah Loewenberg Ball, the former dean of the University of Michigan School of Education and two-time member of the National Science Board, which governs the NSF spoke on a panel on the manufactured rage against diversity, equity, and inclusion.
In the discussion, Loewenberg Ball described her diversity efforts as dean. You had to be very strictly rule-bound and create a bunch of very strict rules when overseeing faculty hiring, she explained. Most importantly, You d say, this search doesn t go forward til you go back and bring me back a pool that looks decent before we even take another step.
The practice that Loewenberg Ball describes is controversial. It raises serious legal questions and shifts power from faculty to administrators particularly to diversity officers. Yet, with the help of funding from the NSF, on whose board Loewenberg Ball twice sat, diversity checkpoints have proliferated at universities around the county.
John Sailer. Step One — just cut off the federal money.