GOP Sen. Cassidy calls for investigation into taxpayer dollars funding DEI

A Republican senator from Louisiana is calling for scrutiny of federal spending on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in higher education. 

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) wrote an Aug. 12 letter addressed to Department of Education Inspector General Sandra D. Bruce, calling on her office to investigate “the use of federal funds by colleges and universities to hire and retain employees and pay for programming to advance [DEI] ideology.”

“The primary problem with DEI is that it does not actually promote inclusivity. It is the opposite of diversity of thought when all members of the campus community are forced into groups based on their race and heritage,” Cassidy wrote. 

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Cassidy also pointed out that, even though colleges and universities are pouring “record amounts” of dollars into DEI programs, DEI itself is “being used as cover to justify discrimination and acts of intimidation on college campuses, such as Jewish students and faculty being attacked because they are considered ‘oppressors’ under the DEI system.”

Cassidy noted the dramatic expansion of DEI on campuses in the last several years, writing that the amount of DEI officials has “ballooned” since 2020. He cited a 2021 study by the Heritage Foundation showing that the average higher education institution paid 45 employees to push DEI.

The Louisiana senator also wrote that “membership at the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) grew by 60 percent between 2020 and 2022, reflecting the sharp increase in DEI hiring.”

As further examples, he cited the University of Michigan, which pays more than $30 million each year to maintain a DEI staff of 241 individuals, and the University of Virginia, which reportedly spends nearly $20 million every year on 235 DEI workers. 

“As recipients of federal grant funding and the beneficiaries of trillions of dollars in federal student loans, colleges and universities should prioritize the academic success of their students over advancing ideological activism,” Cassidy wrote.

Cassidy specifically asked the Inspector General, among other things, to account for how many schools force student and faculty applicants to submit “diversity statements,” require mandatory “DEI training for students and/or employees,” and force incoming freshmen to take implicit bias tests for their orientation. 

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For the institutions that are currently under Department of Education investigation due to alleged anti-Semitism problems, Cassidy requested that the Inspector General provide copies of the “documents and materials used in staff training, freshman orientation programming, and classes required for graduation that refer to Jewish people or the state of Israel, including, but not limited to, labelling [sic] Jewish people as ‘oppressors’ or a similar characterization.”

Multiple states, such as Florida, Texas, and Utah, have already passed bills to crack down on DEI in higher education. Opponents of DEI frequently claim that DEI is divisive, indoctrinates students into a certain political ideology, or distracts students and teachers from more important academic goals. 

Louisiana, Cassidy’s state, saw an anti-DEI bill signed into law on June 11. The bill requires reports on how much money is spent on DEI in the state’s K-12 schools as well as in higher education. 

Campus Reform contacted Sen. Bill Cassidy for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.