New research has found the number of University of Michigan employees who work either full-time or part-time on diversification, ownership, and inclusion-related work then tops 1, 100.
The results come as the U. S. Department of Education under President Donald Trump has eliminated all its DEI initiatives, including placing DEI employees on paid administrative leave and removing La language, courses, commands, and advisory sheets throughout the organization.
The University of Michigan announced in December that it no longer required variety statements when hiring instructors and selecting members, but its Board of Regents avoided cutting any La saving despite at least one governor’s voiced concerns about the millions of dollars the public organization is spending to incorporate DEI into every corner of campus under its DEI 2.0 plan.
Despite a noted inside estimate, many DEI students have reported feeling like they do not belong on campus despite annual student surveys showing that many of the institution’s students have reported this sentiment over the past eight or so years.
The University of Michigan-Flint emeritus professor who compiled the most recent La jobs at UMich, economist Mark Perry, described the bureaucracy as being amazing in size and scope.
At a$ 24.25 million monthly payroll, 249 full-time Well employees are identified for their primary responsibilities, which are to provide Della programming services and advance DEI 2.0.
The overall annual salary of UM’s DEI staff is almost$ 32 million, or enough to cover the cost of nearly 1,800 students ‘ in-state tuition and fees when fringe benefits are added at a rate of 32 percent of basic pay.
( Pictured, the top 30 paid DEI employees, for entire list, click here )
” The rest of the country in higher education, government, and the corporate world are really turning back on DEI, but the University of Michigan is doubling down on DEI”, Perry said. It “demonstrates an obsessive commitment to efforts that lead to dubious outcomes and are very expensive.”
Perry ranks the amount of resources and money that UMich spends on DEI annually, but this year he went one step further, searching the archives for all the DEI 2.0 Unit Strategic Plans that were posted online across the institution’s 51 units to determine the breadth of the efforts.
” Every year they ] ] criticize the DEI headcount I come up with, but they never come up with a number of their own,” he said, adding that it is still to be seen if governors will address the subject at their February meeting, but he thinks they should.
The University of Michigan’s media affairs division and the chief diversity officer’s office received a copy of Perry’s report and spreadsheet on Monday. Chavous did not respond. Colleen Mastony, assistant vice president for public affairs, told The Fix in response:” We don’t have anything more to share. On February 17th, the regents meeting agenda will be posted here.
Bean counting
Michigan maintains an Office of Diversity, Equity &, Inclusion, or ODEI, that includes a chief diversity officer, Chavous, who earns$ 417, 000 annually plus benefits.
” In contrast, Michigan’s governor Gretchen Whitmer’s salary is$ 159, 300, and the average salaries for assistant, associate, and full professors at UM ( all campuses ) are$ 130, 037,$ 145, 360, and$ 207, 827 respectively”, according to the research study compiled by Perry and provided exclusively to The College Fix.
The University of Michigan’s central ODEI office oversees the National Center for Institutional Diversity, Center for Educational Outreach, Wolverine Pathways, and Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives— all told requiring 90 full-time staffers, including eight open positions, the report states.
ODEI also oversees an additional 123 diversity-related positions that do not currently have names assigned such as interns, ambassadors, and coordinators filled by a variety of students and staff, according to Perry’s report, compiled in January using public data on ODEI’s Leadership &, Staff website.
On top of those efforts, the university employs 167 staffers across UM’s schools, colleges, centers, programs, offices, and libraries to advance DEI, such as the College of Engineering’s Office of Culture Community and Equity ( 21 staffers ) and Michigan Medicine’s Office for Health, Equity, and Inclusion ( 20 staffers ).
But wait — there’s more. To oversee the implementation of the university’s 51 units, from 17 academic schools and colleges to the IT division to the Athletics to the Department of Public Safety to three libraries to the Museum of Art and even the Matthaei Botanical Gardens &, Nichols Arboretum, the university has tapped 118″ Unit Leads” — a mix of deans, scholars, and staffers — to implement the massive” DE I 2.0 Plan.”
According to Perry, who reviewed each of the 51 Unit Strategic Plans to determine the number of employees assigned with DEI advancement, a total of 679 additional staff members across the 51 units have been tasked with helping roll out the DEI 2.0 plan.
All told, that’s roughly 1, 123 jobs dedicated to advancing DEI at the University of Michigan, according to Perry’s findings. The University of Michigan-Flint emeritus professor also notes in his report he didn’t even include 51 jobs in the Equity, Civil Rights, and Title IX Office in his round-up.
” Ten DEI staff members earn more than$ 200, 000 and 79 earn$ 100, 000 or more. The DEI salary at UM is$ 97, 843, which adds a rate of 32 % to the overall average annual compensation per DEI employee. Including fringe benefits, 155 DEI employees at UM receive total annual compensation of more than$ 100, 000″, the report states.
A demographic analysis of the 249 DEI employees, who Perry dubs “diversicrats”, also reveals that women are significantly overrepresented by a factor of more than 3-to-1 at 76.4 percent female compared to 23.6 percent male, respectively, employees of color are also significantly overrepresented among DEI staff compared to whites, 57 percent to 43 percent, respectively.
Perry told The College Fix that the data raises the possibility of systemic gender and racial bias when hiring diversity staff at UM.
Keith Riles, a seasoned physics professor at the University of Michigan, was questioned about the findings and said he was shocked by them.
” These numbers are jaw-dropping, even worse than I had realized”, Riles told The College Fix via email Monday. In December, Riles made headlines by speaking to the governors and urging them to reduce DEI spending, alleging some of their allegedly preferential hiring practices for minorities to be against the law.
Riles told The Fix,” The money that is squandered on DEI salaries should go toward scholarships for talented Michigan students from low-income families, regardless of race or gender.”
MORE: UMich botanical garden employs DEI manager, hosts ‘ confronting racism’ training
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