BUZZ
‘We just incorporated the inequalities course,’ staffer says
An eighth Arizona State University staffer has been caught admitting that diversity, equity, and inclusion practices remain at the school despite a federal ban in a new undercover video.
Asked if DEI remains part of the curriculum, Karla Arias, academic advising manager at ASU’s Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, said “100 percent.”
“We just incorporated the inequalities course,” she told an investigative reporter with watchdog group Accuracy in Media.
“They’re going to be teaching students a little bit more on women in crime, race and crime, or the kind of law that is happening in the court,” Arias said.
She added that programs have been rebranded, but their core mission has not changed.
“We definitely did change the title just a bit,” she said. “But we do have the Office of IDEA (Inclusive Design for Equity and Access), that is very much incorporated into our school, and they somehow were protected now that the new regulations are happening in many universities.”
Several other ASU staffers have been caught on camera making similar claims.
Kayla Elizondo-Nunez, graduate program coordinator for ASU’s School of Social Transformation, told an investigative reporter, “We are DEI,” The College Fix previously reported.
In another video, enrollment coach Megan Neumann said the school is still “actively” incorporating DEI.
In addition, Associate Dean of Inclusive Design for Equity and Access Chandra Crudup was caught on video saying the school has changed its DEI language but is “still doing the same thing.”
In response to these viral videos, the U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into the school this month.
“The Division’s investigation will examine whether ASU subjects its students to illegal discrimination through its DEI policies in admissions, recruitment, scholarships, tutoring, and the provision of educational support,” a news release from the department states.
Reached for comment on these videos, an ASU spokesperson previously told The Fix it “complies fully with federal law and does not discriminate in admissions or scholarship selections.”
Arizona’s public universities have recently received criticism for requiring their honors students to complete coursework promoting a DEI agenda, alongside anti-capitalist and anti-Israel themes, a conservative think tank revealed.
ASU’s Barrett, The Honors College, requires students to engage with mandatory readings that include discussions of sexually explicit LGBTQ content and explore racially and sexually charged questions, according to the Goldwater Institute’s report called “Desert Brain Drain.”
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