Straws in the Wind - Part 63

From the Chronicle of Higher Education: In an era when colleges viewed diversity as both a moral imperative and a practical one, Virginia Commonwealth University’s embrace of diversity and inclusion efforts seemed like a clear strength: Here was an institution serving an ever-broadening range of students, with the mission and branding to match.

...But as leaders of the state and the nation have turned sharply against DEI, what was once a strength has become a political liability. The programs that fueled VCU’s evolution — buoying its minority-student enrollment, building its national prestige — are being deemed discriminatory.

And now many of them are going away. In March, at the behest of its governing board, VCU dissolved its division of inclusive excellence. The university reassigned diversity officers and eliminated the use of diversity statements in hiring. An internal university review identified seven scholarships that would be seen as a “direct challenge” to federal guidance on race-conscious programs.

VCU also took an uncommon step further: It brought on an outside firm, Cozen O’Connor, to review the remainder of its policies and determine whether they comply with the Trump administration’s mandates that DEI be stricken from all corners of campus life...

The review has stoked concern in some corners that nearly all university practices — including many defensible ones — are now open to inspection. VCU’s own website has become a symbol of the state of flux: Pages that display scholarships, every page on the College of Humanities and Science website, and faculty profiles have been flagged with a banner indicating their contents are under review... 

Full story at https://www.chronicle.com/article/where-to-draw-the-line-on-dei-this-university-is-asking-a-lawyer.

From the San Francisco Chronicle: Stanford University will permanently lay off hundreds of employees this fall as part of sweeping budget reductions driven by shifting federal policies and financial pressures, according to state filings and statements from university officials. The layoffs, effective Sept. 30, impact 363 positions and stem from a $140 million reduction in Stanford’s general funds budget for the 2025-26 academic year, according to a WARN notice filed last month. In messages to faculty and staff, university leaders cited federal policy changes under the Trump administration — including cuts to research funding and increases in the endowment tax — as key drivers behind the cuts... The specific departments and positions affected by the layoffs were not immediately clear...

Full story at https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/stanford-university-layoffs-cuts-20803037.php.