NU Board of Regents considering policy changes to remove mentions of diversity

University of Nebraska Board of Regents policies outlining diversity initiatives in hiring, admissions and scholarships are on the chopping block. This comes after the U.S. Department of Education required schools to stop diversity policies or risk losing federal funding.

NU President Jeffrey Gold said the university is trying to comply with the federal directive so as not to lose crucial funding for students and research.

“We’re not scared, we're pragmatic, which means that we need to set the stage to be compliant if these things hold,” Gold said. “We are not going to risk the federal funding for the education of our students.”

The largest policy cut is the deletion of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action guidelines. Those guidelines included an equal pay policy and a requirement for data reports on how many racial and ethnic minorities and women are employed at the university, among others.

The guidelines would be replaced with a general policy prohibiting discrimination in employment and hiring, but would not state specific groups such as underrepresented populations, those with a disability or veterans.

In admissions, tuition and the legacy scholarship policies, mentions of diversity, low socio-economic class or underrepresented racial and ethnic groups would be removed.

Several university faculty members spoke against any potential policy changes at the Board of Regents’ special meeting Tuesday.

Crystal Garcia, an associate professor in the department of educational administration at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said federal directives like the U.S. Department of Education’s “Dear Colleague” letter are hurting students, and the university shouldn’t make changes from it.

“These moves do nothing to strengthen our educational systems,” Garcia said. “Rather, they directly erode our values to provide educational supports to ensure that all students have equal opportunities to succeed, and our mission to uphold academic freedom.”

Birdie Ganz, a professor in the Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders, said removing the policies is unlawful.

“They're not intended to favor groups, but they're there to level the playing field,” Ganz said.

Schools have until Friday to comply with the federal directive. Several education organizations filed a lawsuit Tuesday in a Maryland federal district court against the “Dear Colleague” letter, asking the court to stop the department from withholding federal funding.

The NU Board of Regents did not vote on the changes at the special meeting Tuesday. Gold said he’s unsure when the regents will convene to vote. Currently, the next meeting is scheduled for April 11.