McCarthyism

                                                     McCarthyism

Sometimes, math and science people just don't get nuance.

This is from Professor Abigail Thompson, chair of the math department at the University of California-Davis, and a vice-president of the American Mathematical Society, who writes that today’s required diversity statements for jobs in higher education are dangerously reminiscent of the political litmus tests of the McCarthy era:

Mandating diversity statements for university job candidates is reminiscent of events of seventy years ago. In 1950 the Regents of the University of California required all UC faculty to sign a statement asserting that “I am not a member of, nor do I support any party or organization that believes in, advocates, or teaches the overthrow of the United States Government, by force or by any illegal or unconstitutional means, that I am not a member of the Communist Party.” Eventually 31 faculty members were fired over their refusal to sign. Faculty at universities across the country are facing an echo of the loyalty oath, a mandatory “Diversity Statement” for job applicants.

The professed purpose is to identify candidates who have the skills and experience to advance institutional diversity and equity goals. In reality it’s a political test, and it’s a political test with teeth. What are the teeth? Nearly all UC campuses require that job applicants submit a “contributions to diversity” statement as a part of their application. The campuses evaluate such statements using rubrics, a detailed scoring system. Several UC programs have used these diversity statements to screen out candidates early in the search process.
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Why is it a political test? Politics are a reflection of how you believe society should be organized. Classical liberals aspire to treat every person as a unique individual, not as a representative of their gender or their ethnic group. The sample rubric dictates that in order to get a high diversity score, a candidate must have actively engaged in promoting different identity groups as part of their professional life. The candidate should demonstrate “clear knowledge of, experience with, and interest in dimensions of diversity that result from different identities” and describe “multiple activities in depth.” Requiring candidates to believe that people should be treated differently according to their identity is indeed a political test.

The idea of using a political test as a screen for job applicants should send a shiver down our collective spine. Whatever our views on communism, most of us today are in agreement that the UC loyalty oaths of the 1950s were wrong. Whatever our views on diversity and how it can be achieved, mandatory diversity statements are equally misguided.

Imposing a political litmus test is not the way to achieve excellence in mathematics or in the university. Not in 1950, and not today.