A scientist has sued the University of California, Santa Cruz after being required to submit a “diversity, equity and inclusion” statement with his job application.
Former University of Toronto professor JD Haltigan claims his First Amendment rights were violated by the requirement, in the lawsuit filed last week.
The DEI prompt asks candidates to “provide examples of a candidate’s past contributions to diversity, demonstrate an understanding of the particular issues and needs related to diversity and equity in a candidate’s field, or in higher education generally, and/or to discuss the nominee’s vision of how they might contribute to diversity in the future,” according to UCSC. website.
The statements are then scored by school officials who use a rubric to rate them from 1 to 5 based on the candidate’s knowledge of DEI, experience, and plans to “advance it.”
The school has required job applicants to include DEI statements since 2005.
Former University of Toronto professor JD Haltigan claims his First Amendment rights were violated by requirement of University of California, Santa Cruz’s ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ statement
The statements are then graded by school officials who use a rubric to rate them from 1 to 5 based on the candidate’s knowledge of DEI. University President Michael Drake (pictured) is named in the lawsuit
Haltigan, a developmental psychologist, says he was asked to provide a DEI statement after finding a job offer at UCSC for which he felt qualified.
“Many public intellectuals, academics, legislators and investigative journalists have sounded the alarm about the use of the DEI rubric for several reasons, including civil rights, discrimination and more generally the degradation of academic research and teaching in the university setting,” Haltigan said in a blog post last February.
“I share these views and believe that the DEI column of the Academy has also contributed to creating a corrosive and hostile environment, intolerant of diversity of viewpoints and contrary to high quality research and teaching. .”
Following the blog post, Haltigan was contacted by attorneys from the Pacific Legal Foundation, which has been involved in the “DEI reporting issue for a few years,” Wilson Freeman told the Sentinel of Santa Cruz.
“We believe this is a significant issue that is spreading what we consider a kind of orthodoxy throughout the academy,” Haltigan’s attorney added.
“We believe this is a threat to the First Amendment and academic freedom. We think it’s especially bad at the University of California.
Haltigan’s lawsuit names University of California President Michael Drake, UCSC Chancellor Cynthia Larive, UCSC Psychology Department Chair Benjamin Storm and UCSC Dean of Social Sciences Katharyne Mitchell.
He calls the requirement an “unconstitutional form of forced speech” and accuses the university of requiring a “modern-day oath of loyalty for professors seeking to join the faculty,” likening the requirement to McCarthy-era anti-communist pledges in cold. War.
The lawsuit also claims that Haltigan would have to “express ideas with which he disagrees” to qualify for the job, arguing that this violates his free speech rights.
Additionally, it states that the DEI requirement “penalizes certain viewpoints and drives those viewpoints out of the college hiring market.”
Haltigan, who currently works as an independent scientist in Pennsylvania, never applied for the job and wants to do so without the DEI reporting requirement, according to her attorney.
He wants the University of California to remove all DEOI reporting requirements and acknowledge that they violate the First Amendment.
The lawsuit, which names USC President Michael Drake and Psychology Department Chairman Benjamin Storm, calls the DEI requirement an “unconstitutional form of forced speech.”
Haltigan wants the University of California to remove all DEOI reporting requirements Pictured are UCSC Chancellor Cynthia Larive and UCSC Dean of Social Sciences Katharyne Mitchell
DailyMail.com has reached out to Haltigan and UCSC for comment on this story.
The ‘UC Santa Cruz’ DEI reporting requirement is nothing more than a mark departure from the unconstitutional loyalty oaths that proliferated during the Cold War,’ Haltigan lead attorney Wilson Freeman said Tuesday. , at DailyMail.com.
“Universities are not allowed to discriminate against candidates because of their political opinions. The filtering of UC DEI statements is a thinly veiled attempt to do just that.
The scientist’s lawsuit is one of many efforts targeting DEI policies in schools across the country.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a bill banning diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at state colleges.
DeSantis, among other prominent Republicans, has taken an aggressive stance against so-called “woke-ism” at American colleges and universities, including programs pushing DEI and the much-maligned Critical Race Theory.
Meanwhile, the University of North Carolina voted to ban students and staff from being compelled to make DEI statements in February.
The move comes just days after another North Carolina school — NC State University — rescinded a requirement asking applicants to answer an essay question affirming the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) program.
The school began including the question in 2021 on applications saying the university is “committed to building a just and inclusive community” and rejects “unjust or inhumane treatment” and will speak out against it “clearly and loudly”.
The candidate is then asked to write a 250-word essay describing “what these words mean to you and how you will contribute to a more diverse and inclusive environment”.
Now, with the decision of the Board of Trustees, the university “will not solicit or require any employee or applicant for university admission or employment to endorse or affirmatively adjudicate on beliefs, affiliations, ideals or principles concerning matters of contemporary political debate or social action as a condition of admission, employment or career advancement.
