Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) statement pledges in hiring are supported by nearly 60% of the University of Alabama faculty, according to a Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) survey released on Thursday.
According to Silence in the Classroom: The 2024 FIRE Faculty Survey Report, 42% of tenured and non-tenured faculty at the University of Alabama said DEI hiring pledges are never or rarely justifiable. Fifty-eight percent of faculty said the pledges were sometimes or often/always justifiable.
FIRE asked 55 major colleges and universities across the country questions around hot-button campus topics as part of the survey. The survey at the University of Alabama included 77 responses from faculty. The survey didn’t include Auburn University.
“It should surprise no one that conservative faculty are opposed to mandatory DEI pledges, but even a substantial bloc of liberal faculty are opposed to the practice as well,” FIRE’s manager of polling and analytics Nathan Honeycutt said in a statement. “Given how divisive they are, it's likely these pledges persist in part due to self-censorship among faculty, who fear expressing opposition openly."
Governor Kay Ivey recently signed a new law banning taxpayer-funded DEI offices and training. The law went into effect on October 1.
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