IUPUI's future plan promotes DEI initiatives, ignores student concerns on free expression

Despite many conservative students indicating their reservations about speaking up on campus, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis intends to move forward with implementing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives.

In gearing up to split into two separate universities next year, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) has unveiled a “2030 Strategic Plan“ that calls for an “[i]nclusive culture” so that “all students experience a welcoming and inclusive campus culture.”

[RELATED: Republican senators introduce bill to ban DEI requirements for university accreditation]

In a 2022 campus climate survey, however, 42% of undergraduates agreed with the statement, “I sometimes fear speaking up for what I think,” a 10% increase from 2014. 

The same 2022 survey found that 61% of conservative undergraduates, 68% of conservative graduate students, and 61 % of conservative faculty agreed with the statement as well. In comparison, only 32%, 30%, and 38% of their liberal counterparts agreed with the statement, respectively.

While IUPUI envisions “a welcoming and inclusive campus culture,” its plan largely emphasizes contemporary progressive ideology through DEI metrics, mentioning “DEI” nine times, “diversity” five times, “equity” 12 times, “equitable” four times, and “inclusion” five times in the 11-page document.

The document does not include a strategy for how to make  students feel more comfortable to speak their minds on campus.

The university’s plan includes an objective to deliver “a sense of belonging,” but it is located in a section about “[s]trengthening equity” for “historically marginalized groups.”

IUPUI also seeks to advance “DEI values” by becoming a “global and national leader in forging policy and culture changes that center diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, accessibility, belongingness (DEIJAB) values in the research enterprise.”

Although the school expresses a desire to boost “historically marginalized” enrollment, IUPUI already maintains a more ethnically diverse student body than the populations of the state of Indiana and Marion County.

[RELATED: Free speech warning sign displayed on Indiana campus]

Other objectives in the strategic plan include increasing faculty tenure appointments for those who make efforts to promote DEI under a pathway created in 2021.

Faculty research will also be subject to more DEI quotas in the future, including requiring more projects to engage with “communities of color.”

Campus Reform has contacted all relevant parties. This article will be updated accordingly.