© Getty ImagesPresident Sally Kornbluth made the decision to end diversity statements at MIT.
On Saturday, an MIT spokesperson confirmed in an email to me that "requests for a statement on diversity will no longer be part of applications for any faculty positions at MIT", adding that the decision was made by embattled MIT President Sally Kornbluth "with the support of the Provost, Chancellor, and all six academic deans".
The decision marks an inflection point in the battle over diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in higher education. Since at least the late 2010s, diversity statements have been ubiquitous in faculty hiring, sometimes carrying serious weight in the selection process. As one dean at Emory University put it while describing her approach to hiring, "Diversity statement, then dossier."
MIT embraced the diversity statement trend. In late 2023, the university's Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering sought an assistant professor "in fields from fundamental nuclear science to practical applications of nuclear technology in energy, security and quantum engineering". Applicants were required to submit "a statement regarding their views on diversity, inclusion, and belonging, including past and current contributions as well as their vision and plans for the future in these areas".
Such requirements have long been controversial, and the basic argument against them is simple: "diversity, equity, and inclusion" has come to connote a set of controversial views about identity, power, and oppression. Universities which require scholars to "demonstrate" their "commitment" to DEI can easily invite ideological screening, as well as potentially unlawful viewpoint discrimination. Many groups thus oppose the diversity statements on the grounds of academic freedom and free expression.
At MIT, these arguments seemed to have won the day. In a statement provided to me via email, president Kornbluth notes: "We can build an inclusive environment in many ways, but compelled statements impinge on freedom of expression, and they don't work."
This is momentous. The pushback against diversity statements has succeeded almost exclusively at public universities in red states, encouraged or enacted by lawmakers. Conservative states such as Florida, Texas, and Utah have passed laws banning diversity statements at state universities. Some appointed state university leaders, such as the University of North Carolina Board of Governors, have also barred the practice.
The decision at MIT is different — reform from within, prompted by a university president alongside deans and provosts, at a private institution.
It's very possible that more private universities, and state universities in blue states, will eventually follow MIT's lead for one basic reason: a significant number of faculty from across the political spectrum simply cannot stand mandatory DEI statements. Last month, Harvard Law School's Randall Kennedy — a self-described "scholar on the Left committed to struggles for social justice" — described the general sentiment:
"It would be hard to overstate the degree to which many academics at Harvard and beyond feel intense and growing resentment against the DEI enterprise because of features that are perhaps most evident in the demand for DEI statements."Let's hope Kennedy and his colleagues learn from MIT's example and take their indignation seriously. After all, it's more than a narrow issue of free expression and compelled speech. Diversity statements don't merely create an orthodoxy. They create a uniquely bad orthodoxy, one that is corrosive to civic life and inimical to true higher education.
Comment: Don't expect the DEI fanatics to tuck their tails and leave just because they've lost a skirmish. There are many ways to enforce a DEI mindset without requiring an explicit statement. But it does appear the tide is slowly turning.