University of California, Santa Cruz: Diversity Statement Requirement for Faculty Applicants

In 2021, UC Santa Cruz required applicants for many faculty roles to submit a “Statement of Contributions to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” evaluating the statements with a rubric that penalizes applicants for refusing to personally affirm the university’s views on contested social and political issues. On December 7, 2021, FIRE wrote to UC Santa Cruz, calling on the university to eliminate or revise the policy to avoid infringing on the First Amendment rights of prospective faculty. After the university failed to respond, FIRE sent a follow-up letter on April 7, 2022, reiterating that the DEI statement policy impermissibly imposes an ideological litmus test on faculty applicants.