A decision still hangs in the air over the University of Michigan campus, following student protests to keep the DEI program around. The Board of Regents met one final time Thursday, Dec. 5, to discuss DEI initiatives.
Regents left the diversity, equity and inclusion program untouched.
“There are no plans to make any cuts to these programs,” a board member said.
However, board members did vote to remove the requirement for diversity statements from faculty who are under consideration for a job or promotion. Candidates will no longer have to provide an outline on how they will contribute to DEI programs on Michigan’s campus.
The change is similar to ones made in recent months at other universities, including Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Michigan’s provost, Laurie McCauley, said a faculty committee spent months weighing pros and cons of diversity statements.
McCauley said the University’s program has produced important strides to increase opportunities for people.
Michigan’s regents are still measuring other DEI initiatives after a New York Times report detailed the University has spent $250 million since 2016 despite Black students enrollment sitting around 5% for the last decade. The Times investigation also found 56% of funding goes to salaries and benefits for DEI staff members.
Michigan’s student newspaper obtained a letter released by the Faculty Senate in November 2024. The letter said the regents met behind closed doors on the possibility of defunding the DEI program in the next budget year.
Concern quickly heightened across the campus, staff reporting that both students and faculty could be negatively impacted and removing DEI would change Michigans core values.
The letter also asserted President-elect Donald Trump’s promises to rollback DEI programs is sparking fear across the board of regents.
Michigan’s student body caught wind of the letter, spurring a rally at the beginning of December. Other students attended Thursday’s meeting to speak directly to the regents.
One student spoke out and said, “Many have DEI completely wrong, instilling terror and fear for a reason I must attribute to ignorance at best, malice at worst.”
A Michigan physics professor wants to see DEI eliminated from the campus. He said the program is discriminatory in nature.
The board also raised household income requirements to allow more students to attend the University of Michigan without paying tuition. The threshold was increased by 67%.
