University of Missouri cuts diversity statements as legislative ban on DEI excess looms

The University of Missouri (MU) is getting rid of diversity statements in the wake of proposed Republican legislation that would outlaw their use.

The new policy was announced to a small number of administrators and faculty via email by University of Missouri System President and MU Chancellor Mun Choi.

“We do not use loyalty oaths or litmus tests but a few of our job advertisements contained information that may give some readers the impression that such a request was inferred,” Choi said in the email obtained by The Lion.

In February, Patrick Ishmael, director of government accountability at the Missouri-based Show-Me Institute, criticized the use of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) statements in Missouri universities, comparing them to “loyalty oaths.” After news of MU’s revision, Ishmael called the new language an “improvement.”

So far, other public universities in Missouri have not announced any adjustment to their controversial DEI policies.

Across the U.S., half of university professors believe DEI statements interfere with academic freedom. 

At MU, instead of a DEI statement, the university will use a “values statement,” says Choi.

The proposed new language of the values statements would read:

We value the uniqueness of every individual and strive to ensure each person’s success. Contributions from individuals with diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives promote intellectual pluralism and enable us to achieve the excellence that we seek in learning, research and engagement. This commitment makes our university a better place to work, learn and innovate.

In your application materials, please discuss your experiences and expertise that support these values and enrich our missions of teaching, research and engagement. 

MU spokesperson Christian Basi emphasized that the university never used DEI statements to screen out applicants, the Columbia Missourian reported.

In 2018, the University introduced a DEI “rubric” for faculty hiring, over and above its DEI statements, which was an assessment of a person’s “basic skills in diversity, the person’s track record of advancing diversity and inclusion and their future plans for further advancing diversity, equity and inclusion,” said St. Louis Public Radio. 

“We’ll also no longer use the diversity faculty hiring rubric that was developed in 2018,” Choi concluded in his email.

Earlier in the month, state Rep. Doug Richey, R-Liberty, introduced legislation which would outlaw DEI statements in state universities.

“We all understand that the terms individually of diversity, equity, and inclusion can mean a whole host of things depending on the context – most of which none of us in this room would have a problem with,” he said when he introduced the bill.

“However, when you put them together programmatically, and the way in which they have been in our current landscape, that’s when you begin to see ideology taking over….” Richey added.

Ishmael agrees, feeling the legislation is necessary to “finish the job.”

“President Choi’s decision to excise woke loyalty oaths from university hiring documents is encouraging,” Ishmael wrote. “The legislature should finish the job.”