University of Nebraska-Lincoln shuts down DEI office, eliminates $320k vice chancellor position
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has closed its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office and eliminated its vice chancellor position.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has closed its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office and eliminated its vice chancellor position.
In an email, UNL Chancellor Rodney Bennett said to the campus community on Tuesday that the Office of Diversity and Inclusion will be closing, according to the Lincoln Journal-Star.
The change also means the university’s vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion position, held by Marco Barker, will be eliminated come December. Including benefits, Barker’s salary is almost $320,000.
$750,000 will also go back into the university’s overall budget, which was previously allocated for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
”I fully grasp the weight of this decision and its implications,” Bennett wrote, adding that “a centralized approach to this work is no longer right for our institution.”
Bennett told the Lincoln Journal-Star that a recent trend of establishing DEI offices at colleges and universities has “shifted.”
”I think during that period, perhaps, a goal was met and those offices have served the campuses well,” Bennett said.
The Office of Diversity and Inclusion’s five employees can apply for other positions across the university.
