I think there's a big distinction to be made between including diversity in research design, making sure your research design is accurate and effective.... Like the previous witness, Professor Kerr, was saying, it's fundamentally important to think about how that affects research design. However, it's an entirely different matter the way diversity statements are included. They expect a certain kind of language, which acts as a political loyalty test. For example, if one were to talk about the importance of a merit-based, blind assessment, like Professor Kaufmann did, that would be a signal to people assessing that research that wouldn't even have to come up in a meeting but could significantly affect their scoring on the application. Nothing would be said about someone's partisan political beliefs, but everyone would know where someone was coming from, and it could significantly reduce their chances of getting funding.
On November 28th, 2024. See this statement in context.