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Writing to faculty on the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), Dr. Richard Louchouarn, Texas A&M at Galveston’s vice president for academic affairs and Associate Provost, claims DEI values are central to the university and must be part of the institution.
Texas A&M University at Galveston (TAMUG) is committed to DEI values, according to the university’s website. The school’s Climate and Inclusion Committee issued a statement saying the university welcomes individuals from all backgrounds according to Texas A&M core values of “excellence, integrity, leadership, loyalty, respect, and selfless service.”
However, a professor from the University of Texas-Austin, Richard Lowery, recently filed a lawsuit against Texas A&M claiming the university hires faculty and staff using discriminatory practices, according to the College Fix.
Lowery’s lawsuit accuses Texas A&M of discriminating against him based on race, the College Fix reported. Lowery claims Texas A&M created a program that hires scholars of color over white and Asian males.
The “suggestion that there is widespread discrimination is false,” Laylan Copelin, a Texas A&M spokesperson, told the media outlet. “The specific program is brand new, and no one has been hired under it.”
The lawsuit argues that Texas A&M’s “proclaimed goal of establishing a faculty whose racial composition attains ‘parity with that of the state of Texas’ seeks to achieve racial balancing, which is flatly illegal under Title VI and the binding precedent of the Supreme Court,” according to the complaint.
Under Title VI, the lawsuit states universities cannot accept federal funds while hiring based on race. The lawsuit criticizes Texas A&M for using the policy known as ‘affirmative action’ “to hire and promote inferior faculty candidates over individuals with better scholarship, better credentials, and better teaching ability.” It also accuses Texas A&M and universities across the country of participating in illegal action behind DEI programs.
“Diversity efforts at TAMUG provide equal access to opportunity for all campus community members based on individual merit and works from the premise that all campus community members have the intellect and capacity to contribute to the university’s and our nation’s growth and progress,” according to a statement on the TAMUG website.
The university “rejects hatred, bigotry, racism, prejudice, and religious intolerance,” the statement read.
The Committee on Climate and Inclusion has certain responsibilities at TAMUG. According to the university’s website, the committee is charged with recruiting, promoting, retaining, and developing faculty, staff, and students in the values of diversity and inclusion. The committee must “ensure that all existing and planned policies, operations, procedures, and all major plans for organizational change are pursued with careful attention to their impact on our diversity goals” and “consider processes for the collection of equity and climate data, diversity initiatives, as well as recruitment and retention strategies and outcomes.”
“I believe that the best place to develop such a truly inclusive, culturally- and diversity-conscious citizenry is in our schools and universities,” Louchouarn said in a statement. “I particularly believe that when education is seen as a fundamental right rather than a privilege, our schools and universities will become living laboratories for such inclusion.”
The Committee on DEI for the Texas A&M University System released a report that found Texas A&M Universities were failed in some areas regarding hiring a more diverse faculty from 2015-2019. The report states a “lack of accountability” contributed to low numbers of people of color being hired.
The report states the university is taking steps to address this through the Accountability, Climate, Equity and Scholarship (ACES) Fellows Program, which it described as a “faculty pipeline initiative (that) promotes the research, teaching and scholarship of early career scholars who embrace the belief that diversity is an indispensable component of academic excellence.”
Under the Office of Diversity, the ACES program webpage reads, “From this experience at Texas A&M, fellows should develop an understanding of the value of diversity and inclusion and the power that it holds for students, faculty, and staff to enrich their lives. Texas A&M upholds its responsibility to accountability, campus climate, equity, and scholarship by maintaining a campus that affirms equity and fosters inclusion and belonging.”
According to a June 2021 memo sent from Annie McGown, the vice president and Associate Provost for Diversity, and N. K. Anand, vice president for Faculty Affairs, to all deans, Texas A&M allocated $2 million for the ACES program.
“The presence of faculty of color is also integral to the University’s mission to provide the highest quality of undergraduate and graduate education and develop new understandings through research and creativity,” the memo stated.
Texas A&M added a mandatory question to faculty and staff applications regarding ways they will work to value DEI for applicants according to the report.
“These are small steps, but more is needed to help ensure that DEI is valued on the campus, particularly when it comes to hiring faculty and staff,” the report stated.