California Institute of Technology: Event Funding Guidelines Restrict Speaker Funding Based On “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion”

In September 2021, California Institute of Technology’s Graduate Student Council informed all graduate students that the guidelines for funding student-invited speakers’ events had been amended to base funding on commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. FIRE wrote to Caltech explaining these guidelines violate students’ expressive and associational rights by discriminating against student organizations based on their viewpoints. Caltech told FIRE on December 22 that it would look into the new guidelines. However, after the GSC refused to change its policies, Caltech said it supports the GSC’s mission and would “work with the GSC to ensure that diverse viewpoints are represented by speakers at Caltech.”