University of California leaders are eliminating a years-old practice of requiring faculty job applicants to submit “diversity statements,” a move that comes after the Trump administration threatened to revoke federal funding from schools and universities that maintain diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
As part of job applications or promotions, many departments at UC campuses have asked job seekers to submit written testimonials of one or two pages about how they have worked to enhance and support racial and other kinds of diversity in their fields. The essay requests started to appear in some UC applications in the early 2000s and gained popularity in the 2010s, attracting both praise and controversy as UC became a national leader in the practice.
UC regents announced the decision Wednesday evening after their first meeting, held at UCLA, since the federal government launched a series of investigations at UC and other U.S. campuses over allegations that they discriminate against white, Asian American and Jewish employees and students.
“The requirement to submit a diversity statement may lead applicants to focus on an aspect of their candidacy that is outside their expertise or prior experience,” Katherine S. Newman, UC provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, said in a Wednesday letter to campus provosts.
“The regents stated that our values and commitment to our mission have not changed,” the letter said. “We can continue to effectively serve our communities from a variety of life experiences, backgrounds, and points of view without requiring diversity statements.”
She added that although stand-alone diversity statements in hiring will “no longer be permitted,” faculty are still allowed to optionally share any “inclusive academic achievements in teaching, research, and service” during the academic review process.
Several conservative states, including Idaho, Utah, Texas, and Florida, have in recent years banned schools from using the statements. Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have also discontinued the practice.
Opponents of diversity statements argue the essays encourage scholars who apply for jobs to shift their focus away from academic achievement. In 2023, a UC Santa Cruz diversity statement requirement prompted a former University of Toronto psychology professor to sue. The professor, who lived in Pennsylvania, alleged the job application requirement violated free speech protections in the Constitution. Last year, a judge dismissed the suit because the professor did not apply for a job.
Multiple UC faculty members familiar with Wednesday’s decision said they believed anti-DEI actions of the Trump administration were a significant factor in the regents’ decision.
Brian Soucek, a UC Davis law professor and expert on diversity statements who has worked with the UC faculty and administration to research their use, legality and efficacy, expressed disappointment.
“It can only be explained as an attempt at advanced appeasement of the Trump administration’s current threats,” Soucek said. “There is nothing else that possibly motivates this change in general or this change being done in this particular way at the current moment.”
Soucek pointed out that the UC leaders and faculty “have been studying and advocating about diversity statements at campuses for years.” He said the statements are supposed to “look for ways in which our specific fields may be falling short in producing scholarship that addresses the needs of a diverse public.”
In a statement, UC Board of Regents Chair Janet Reilly said the university “will continue to embrace and celebrate Californians from a variety of life experiences, backgrounds, and points of view.”
The Department of Education issued guidance last month to all schools and universities suggesting that their DEI programs — such as minority-focused scholarships and Black and Latino graduation ceremonies — put them at risk of losing federal grants.
The letter did not single out diversity statements but broadly said the department saw the use of race in “admissions, financial aid, hiring, training, and other institutional programming” as illegal.
In response, many schools throughout the country have made changes such as closing down diversity offices or positions or renaming them to remove the words diversity and equity. USC shut down a campuswide diversity office, merging it with a “culture” team, and faculty scrubbed department-level websites of diversity language.
The Education Department also opened investigations into UC Berkeley and dozens of campuses last week on allegations that they illegally partnered with the PhD Project, a New Jersey-based nonprofit that promotes workplace diversity by connecting business school faculty to students. The Trump administration accused the nonprofit of limiting participation based on race. The nonprofit said last week that it has changed its policies to be open to everyone.