Member
America’s Largest And Most Expensive DEI Program Is About to Self-Destruct: Report
Charlie Kirk Staff
11/29/2024
The University of Michigan’s (UM) multi-million dollar Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiative may be on the verge of being dismantled.
Emails shared on X reveal that the university’s board of regents has requested UM President Santa Ono to either “defund or restructure” the DEI office in response to increasing criticism and public pressure. The board is scheduled to vote on the proposal on December 5, the Daily Caller reported.
“I write to share information with you about impending threats to the University of Michigan’s DEI programming and core values of diversity, equity, and inclusion,” Rebekah Modrak, faculty senate chair, wrote in an email to faculty senate members. “It has been confirmed by multiple sources that the Regents met earlier this month in a private meeting with a small subgroup of central leadership members, and among the topics discussed was the future of DEI at UM, including the possibility of defunding DEI in the next fiscal year.”
Calls to end the university’s DEI program emerged after The New York Times highlighted its shortcomings and the significant funds allocated to it.
“In recent years, as D.E.I. programs came under withering attack, Michigan has only doubled down on D.E.I., holding itself out as a model for other schools,” the NYT wrote in an October article. “By one estimate, the university has built the largest D.E.I. bureaucracy of any big public university. But an examination by The Times found that Michigan’s expansive — and expensive — D.E.I. program has struggled to achieve its central goals even as it set off a cascade of unintended consequences.”
Despite the University of Michigan investing $250 million in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives since 2016, both students and faculty have reported a worsening campus climate. They are less inclined to engage with individuals of different races, religions, or political ideologies—interactions that DEI programs are theoretically intended to promote, according to the article.
Additionally, efforts to increase campus diversity have been unsuccessful, with black enrollment at the university remaining consistently at 5%, the Times noted.
The program is said to have fostered a “culture of grievance,” with its establishment aligning with a significant increase in campus complaints related to race, gender, and religion, The New York Times reported. Additionally, nearly 250 university employees were involved in various DEI initiatives across the campus.
Modrak in her email referenced the article, calling it a “tendentious attack” that was “not well researched,” and claiming that the author “cherry-picked” examples of UM’s failures.
According to Mark Perry, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, the university spends approximately $30.68 million each year on DEI staff, with the average salary reaching $96,400. Several DEI employees earn over $200,000 annually, and the head of the department receives a salary exceeding $400,000.
