The campus of UCLA
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This story was updated at 3:15 p.m. with additional reactions.
The University of California will no longer require diversity statements for faculty applicants, university leaders announced. The change comes as the Trump administration has threatened to withhold funding from universities that have programs or initiatives related to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Many UC academic departments and programs for years have required applicants seeking faculty positions to describe how they have or would contribute to campus diversity, such as racial diversity. But the system’s board of regents has directed UC President Michael Drake to “ensure that diversity statements are no longer required” for new applicants, Provost Katherine Newman wrote in a letter Wednesday to campus provosts.
“The requirement to submit a diversity statement may lead applicants to focus on an aspect of their candidacy that is outside their expertise or prior experience,” Newman said. She added that UC “can continue to effectively serve communities from a variety of life experiences, backgrounds, and points of view without requiring diversity statements.”
The letter did not explicitly mention the Trump administration. But at an emergency meeting earlier this week of the university’s systemwide Academic Council, Drake told faculty the change was being made and said UC “needed to show signs it was listening to the Trump administration,” according to Sean Malloy, an associate professor of history at UC Merced who sits on the council and was present for Drake’s presentation.
Malloy, in an interview, called the decision cowardly and naive. “It is a catastrophic misreading of the current political dynamic,” he said. “We are dealing with people who want to punish political enemies. And the University of California is a political enemy. Offering concessions, particularly unasked-for concessions, only invites further repression.”
Proposition 209, a 1996 ballot measure, bans California’s public colleges from giving preferential treatment based on race, sex or ethnicity, including in employment decisions. But the diversity statements, which have existed for years, were not believed to violate that law.
The statements are typically up to two pages and allow an applicant to describe their track record of advancing various types of diversity — such as race, gender or sexual orientation — or how they expect their work would promote diversity. UC was considered a leader in the practice, with supporters saying the statements were helpful in understanding how prospective faculty would contribute to campuses and diverse student bodies.
The use of diversity statements also faced criticism, with opponents often arguing that they served as an unfair political test of applicants. Other prominent universities, including Harvard and the University of Michigan, have also recently stopped requiring the statements.
The Trump administration last week opened investigations into more than 50 colleges nationwide, including UC Berkeley, and accused them of running programs that discriminate against white and Asian students. Trump has separately threatened to withhold funding from Berkeley and three other UC campuses — Davis, San Diego and Santa Barbara — if his administration deems they aren’t doing enough to protect Jewish students.
Citing the threats of federal funding cuts, UC earlier on Wednesday announced it is implementing a hiring freeze across its campuses, hospitals and health professional schools.
In a separate statement Wednesday, the chair of UC’s board of regents, Janet Reilly, maintained that UC’s “values and commitment to our mission have not changed” despite no longer requiring diversity statements. She said UC would “continue to embrace and celebrate Californians from a variety of life experiences, backgrounds, and points of view.”
Even though standalone diversity statements won’t be permitted, faculty applicants can choose to refer to accomplishments related to diversity “in other parts of an application or during interviews and discussions,” Newman said in her letter. Hiring committees can then “consider these contributions alongside the applicants’ other qualifications,” she added.
The move to no longer require those statements “was the wrong decision at the wrong time and sends the wrong message to students and families,” said Jessie Ryan, the president of the Campaign for College Opportunity, a nonprofit organization that has advocated for more diversity among faculty and students.
The campaign has previously published studies highlighting the disparities in the racial demographics of students at California’s public universities compared with the racial makeup of faculty. The 2024 report found that 60% of UC’s tenure-track faculty are white, but only 19% of UC’s undergraduates are white.
Having a diverse faculty encourages more students to stay in school and succeed, Ryan said.
“When you take away a statement that centers diversity and offer nothing as a replacement, it sends a message to students that we are walking away from this work,” she said.
