MIT becomes first elite university to drop its controversial 'diversity statement' for faculty applicants and admits: 'They don't work'

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has dropped its controversial hiring practice that requires prospective faculty to write a 'diversity statement' as part of the application process.

The university previously required faculty applicants to provide the hiring team with a statement demonstrating 'knowledge of challenges related to diversity, equity, and inclusion'.

Applicants were also required to outline their 'track record of working with diverse groups of people' and share how they plan to advance diversity, equity (DEI) and inclusion within their role at the school.

MIT President Dr. Sally Kornbluth has now decided to remove the requirement because 'compelled' diversity statements allegedly 'impinge on freedom of expression' and 'don't work', the university confirmed to DailyMail.com.

The school is the first elite private university to backtrack on the controversial application practice.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) President Dr. Sally Kornbluth, pictured in December, has dropped the university's controversial hiring practice that requires prospective faculty to write a 'diversity statement' as part of the application process

An MIT spokesperson on Monday confirmed that 'requests for a statement on diversity will no longer be part of applications for any faculty positions at MIT'.

Kornbluth made the decision to reform the highly-criticized hiring practice with the 'support of the Provost, Chancellor, and all six academic deans'.

The President said she believes MIT can 'build an inclusive environment' without requiring diversity statements.

'My goals are to tap into the full scope of human talent, to bring the very best to MIT, and to make sure they thrive once here,' Kornbluth told DailyMail.com in a statement.

'We can build an inclusive environment in many ways, but compelled statements impinge on freedom of expression, and they don't work.'

The policy change comes after a survey conducted by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a free speech advocacy group, last year revealed that students and faculty were 'unclear' if the 'administration protects free speech'.

The report, released in January 2023, found that 'large portions of MIT faculty and students are afraid to express their views in various academic settings.'

Around 25 per cent of faculty reported they were 'very' or 'extremely' likely to self-censor, the FIRE survey revealed. Forty-one per cent of faculty also agreed that the administration's stance on free speech was 'not clear'.

MIT previously required faculty applicants to provide the hiring team with a statement demonstrating 'knowledge of challenges related to diversity, equity, and inclusion'. Applicants were also required to outline their 'track record of working with diverse groups of people' and share how they plan to advance diversity, equity (DEI) and inclusion within their role at the school (Pictured: The Maclaurin Buildings on the MIT campus)

Last month, a Harvard Law School professor urged the Ivy League - which MIT is not apart of - to eliminate mandatory diversity statements.

Randall L. Kennedy, in a column in the Harvard Crimson, argued that requiring faculty to sign DEI statements 'poses a profound challenge to academic freedom'.

He argued DEI statements force faculty and staff to 'toe a political line' apply pressure towards 'leftist conformity' and 'abets cynicism.'

'Universities are under a legal, moral, and pedagogical duty to take action against wrongful discriminatory conduct,' Kennedy wrote. 

'But demands for mandatory DEI statements venture far beyond that obligation into territory that is full of booby-traps inimical to an intellectually healthy university environment.'

The DEI statement policy, often leading to the select hiring of minorities or specific demographics in order to increase diversity, was strongly pushed by Harvard's first Black female president Claudine Gay. 

Gay, alongside the presidents of UPenn and MIT were called before a congressional hearing in December last year to account for the rise of antisemitism on their college campuses. 

During the hearing, Gay refused to categorize calls for Jew genocide as harassment or concede that Jewish students had a right to feel safe at Ivy League schools. 

Gay resigned as president of Harvard in January but failed to apologize for testimony. The academic had actively pushed a DEI agenda at the college, and had herself been criticized as underqualified for the role. 

The DEI statement policy was strongly pushed by Harvard's first Black female president Claudine Gay. Gay alongside the presidents of UPenn and MIT were called before a congressional hearing in December 2023 (pictured) to account for the rise of antisemitism on their college campuses

Higher education institutions are not the only firms revising their DEI hiring practices. Last year's Supreme Court ruling overturning the use of affirmative action in universities has drawn attention to corporate diversity efforts.

Laws limiting the use of DEI policies in public schools have been introduced in Florida by Governor Ron DeSantis and in the universities of Texas by Governor Greg Abbott.

Several American companies have distanced themselves from controversial diversity initiatives in the wake of the college antisemitism row, business consultants revealed earlier this year.

The spate of antisemitism at some of the country's most elite college campuses has reportedly dragged the DEI term further into a toxic political debate that businesses now wish to distance themselves from. 

'The focus is moving away from 'those three words' towards efforts around 'wellbeing and inclusion,' Diana Scott from The Conference Board told Axios in January.

DEI had already attracted some high-profile critics from the business world including Elon Musk and billionaire Bill Ackman.