Caltech removes DEI language from administrator title while preserving DEI office
The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena recently changed the official title of its chief diversity officer to remove DEI-based (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) terms.
Lindsey Malcom-Piqueux’s previous position was called 'assistant vice president for diversity, equity, inclusion, and assessment.'
The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena recently changed the official title of its chief diversity officer to remove DEI-based (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) terms.
The announcement was made by Thomas Rosenbaum, Caltech’s president, on March 31.
“I am delighted to announce the promotion of Lindsey Malcom-Piqueux to associate vice president for campus climate, engagement, and success,” Rosenbaum stated, adding that the new position would have an “expanded capacity.”
Malcom-Piqueux’s previous position was called “assistant vice president for diversity, equity, inclusion, and assessment,” as noted by The Washington Free Beacon. Despite the change removing the controversial language, she will continue to oversee the school’s DEI center.
The Caltech Center for Inclusion and Diversity (CCID) provides services related to “Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility,” including “educational workshops and programming,” according to its website. One of the services CCID also offers are workshops that seek to “promote identity exploration.”
On April 21, CCID will host a workshop entitled, “Understanding & Responding to Microaggressions & Bias 101.” In May, the center will host events on “LGBTQIA+ 101” and “LGBTQIA+ 201.”
CCID also continues to organize “Affinity Spaces” for “folx and allies of the LGBTQIA community, People of Color, Women, Women of Color, Graduate & Postdoc, Postdocs from Historically Excluded communities, Men of Color, Agender, Non-Binary, and Gender-Expansive Identities, and members of Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA)/ Middle Eastern community, to name a few.”
The title change comes following the Department of Education’s Feb. 14 notice sent out to all universities who receive federal money, which warned the schools that, if they do not eliminate DEI programs, their funding might be on the line.
“Discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin is illegal and morally reprehensible,” the letter stated. “In recent years, American educational institutions have discriminated against students on the basis of race, including white and Asian students, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds and low-income families.”
“Proponents of these discriminatory practices have attempted to further justify them—particularly during the last four years—under the banner of ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (‘DEI’), smuggling racial stereotypes and explicit race-consciousness into everyday training, programming, and discipline,” the notice read.
Following the issuance of the document, the Education Department launched a portal on its website, called “End DEI,” to track violations of the new policy.
There have been various reductions to DEI initiatives across higher education; for instance, colleges such as the University of Southern California, the University of Alaska, and University of Notre Dame have removed references to DEI.
Campus Reform has contacted Caltech for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
