Chris Rufo, a senior fellow at Manhattan Institute claims his probe into Texas A&M University's programs and practices related to diversity, equity and inclusion, and through public records requests found the university has injected DEI “ideology” throughout the university.
Rufo, according to a post on Twitter, claims the university also has adopted discrimination in the name of social justice, noting nearly every academic and administrative unit has adopted the ideology, citing a document "2020 Diversity Accountability Reports Summaries" which set up the Academic Affairs Climate & Committee, which handles diversity and climate programs.
"Texas A&M has created a radical DEI bureaucracy that has condemned the United States as a 'white supremacist society,'” Rufo tweeted, “blasted Gov. Greg Abbott as a vestige of 'systemic racism,' and said its role is to '[take] a progressive stand on issues of social justice.”
Rufo, in a social media post, also claims the Academic Affairs Climate & Committee focused on recruiting an applicant pool that was more qualified and diverse, and a Hiring Review Subcommittee was tasked with hiring supervisors it believed would understand the importantance of diversity in the hiring process.
According to Rufo's tweet, one line in the 2020 report states “systemic racism continues to deprive us of our very lives,” and he opines that the university’s values are in line with DEI values, adding that the school pushed the agenda while itself being a racist organization.
Rufo also took aim at the university for hosting a lecturer, he alleges in a tweet, who claimed the United States is a "white supremacist society,” and maintained the university’s DEI agenda is creating growing discrimination and segregation.
In a post on his Substack titled “DEI Swallows Texas A&M,” Rufo maintains the programs include content that is little more than “left-wing activism” and claims hiring practices are discriminatory, urging staff to take steps to ensure finalists who are underrepresented in a department are included among the semi-finalists and finalists.
Rufo also alleges in the Substack piece that the university’s admission process includes racial quotas such as ensuring a 25% enrollment of “Hispanic/Latinix” students.
"Why are Texas voters subsidizing this process of ideological capture?” he asked in the Substack post. “Texas A&M might be best known for football and agricultural science, but under the surface, administrators have displaced the pursuit of truth with the pursuit of left-wing activism — and they are openly hostile to the state’s political leaders and cultural values."
The Lone Star Standard reported that the university pressed pause on the inclusion of DEI statements in its hiring practices following a directive from Abbott, with the University of Texas following suit.
"We have paused any new DEI policies on our campuses and have asked for reports on current policies on our campuses,” Chairman Kevin Eltlife of the UT System, told the news outlet.
Some Republican lawmakers across the Lone Star State maintain DEI is little more than a “political litmus test” to ensure people uphold progressive political views and block free speech, according to a Houston Daily report.
According to the Houston Daily report, Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, proposed a measure to put an end to DEI at public universities.
"Texas leads the entire nation with the boldest legislation to end #DEI and promote true diversity in higher education,” Creighton said in a press release when Senate Bill 17 was adopted, according to the report.
Creighton also noted in the news release cited by Houston Daily, that creation of DEI offices, mandatory statements, litmus tests and diversity training only serves to create division.
“DEI programs have become a million-dollar industry at taxpayer-funded institutions – yet they have made no progress advancing or increasing diversity,” he said in the news release.
