A professor at the University of Washington has said the school’s new hiring rules make it tough for anyone who isn’t fluent in a certain kind of diversity language to get a job.
Stuart Reges, a non‑tenured teaching professor in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering, told Fox News Digital that his résumé would not have satisfied the campus’s strict “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) pledge. “I’d have been turned down,” Reges said, even though he has won the school’s Distinguished Teaching Award.
The university now requires all applicants for faculty positions to submit a one‑page diversity statement. The statement must explain an applicant’s background, their experience with DEI, and how they would advance the UW’s “commitment to racial equity.” The same statement also needs to describe the teacher’s philosophy and mention a plan to help the College of Education further its social‑justice goals.
The DEI check goes farther. UW uses a grading rubric that scores potential professors on a scale of “poor” to “excellent” in a section titled “Diversity.” A poor rating means a candidate shows little evidence of contributing to the campus’s Diversity Blueprint. “There are some very talented teachers who leave because of the pressure,” Reges added. He worries that many grad students who might have liked teaching consider the job process too difficult and turn away.
Critics say the system pushes a single political viewpoint. Seattle‑based radio host Jason Rantz wrote that the requirement “makes it easier to discriminate against conservatives.” He added that the university’s emphasis on DEI is a way to enforce a monoculture of approved opinions.
The conversation comes against a backdrop of recent federal scrutiny. In March, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights began investigations into several universities, including UW, for “race‑exclusionary practices.” The university’s spokesperson said it follows state and federal laws that keep race off the hiring decision and that the new hire standards were complied with. The campus said it would revise the professor position’s posting to clear any confusion.
The story raises a broader question about the role of DEI in higher education. President Donald Trump’s January executive order, titled “Protects Civil Rights and Merit‑Based Opportunity,” called for ending “illegal DEI.” The order warned that DEI could create bias, hostility, and authoritarian language in schools. Critics argue that this Washington campus is a prime example of where the politics of DEI clash with the idea of admitting the best teachers.
Reges’s remarks have sparked debate on social media and across campus. Some praise his call for a more merit‑based hiring process, while others see his words as a warning of a future where academic voices that don’t match the campus’s cultural agenda cannot thrive.
The school remains firm that it supports diversity and seeks to recruit teachers who can contribute to a wide range of student needs. But across Seattle and beyond, the debate points to a national conversation about the place of DEI in universities, the format of faculty hiring, and the limits of political correctness on campuses.
Source: Fox News
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