California Polytechnic State University will require candidates for faculty positions to submit a “diversity statement” starting in fall 2018.
School recruiters will use a “rubric to assess diversity statements” submitted by applicants to faculty positions, The College Fix reported Tuesday.
“This is not unique to my university, but all across the United States,” Cal Poly French professor Brian Kennelly told The Fix. “It’s a sickness spreading internationally that is getting out of control. … You need to hire people who are qualified. If you don’t fit the box in the modern crusade, you’re out of luck.”
Kennelly claims that he has gotten denied positions in the past because of his blue eyes and blond hair. He notes that he is African American and gay.
Cal Poly declined a request by The Daily Caller News Foundation to elaborate on what exactly diversity statements from faculty applicants would entail. The school mentions the diversity statements alongside its commitment to decreasing the percentage of white students at the campus in a 30-page action plan.
“Over recent years, numerous programs and initiatives have been implemented to improve diversity and create a campus community that more closely reflects the demographics of the state of California,” Cal Poly said in the plan.
The school brags that its percentage of white students dropped from 63 percent in 2011 to 55 percent in 2017. Yet Cal Poly spokesman Matt Lazier insisted the school does not discriminate based on race. (RELATED: Lawyers: White Students Should Be Able To Sue Cal Poly For Racial Discrimination)
“The university has not, does not, and will not consider race or ethnicity in the admissions process (doing so is prohibited in California by Proposition 209),” Lazier told KSBY.
“The admissions process is and will remain merit based,” fellow Cal Poly spokeswoman Cynthia Lambert told TheDCNF in July when asked about this apparent contradiction.
The school made headlines in late July for stripping white student Bronson Harmon of his wrestling scholarship after publication of a viral video in which Harmon said “fuck you, faggot” while counter-protesting an immigration event.
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