UNLV restructuring campus diversity initiatives

In a campus-wide letter, Chris Heavey cited nationwide efforts by the Trump administration to “reshape many aspects of how higher education functions in our country, including policies and directives related to diversity, equity and inclusion.”

Added Heavey: “While we have always operated within the boundaries of existing state and federal laws, and will continue to do so, times of change are also opportunities to reflect on what we are doing and consider how it might be done differently – and ideally better.”

The Office of Diversity Initiatives is being replaced and its mission will be folded into other departments with “overlapping responsibility,” he said.

The reorganization efforts will focus on “advancing campus-wide initiatives to build a climate of engagement and collaboration among all campus groups and members of the university community,” Heavey said.

He said UNLV was searching for an associate vice president for institutional engagement and experience and that it created an associate vice provost position.

Meanwhile, the letter said that UNLV’s “Student Diversity Programs” will be renamed and placed into an umbrella department that “will work to ensure that all students feel welcomed and heard,” the letter said.

Longtime UNLV English professor Douglas Unger said there was confusion among faculty members over whether the changes mean a continuation of policies under a different name or “a complete and total reshaping of what our mission has been into something else.”

Unger, a former president of the UNLV chapter of the Nevada Faculty Alliance union, said he understood why the university would respond to the federal government’s demands in order to preserve funding.

“The problem is clarity. There’s no clarity coming down,” he said. “My concern is once you do this in response to unprecedented federal interference into higher education, what comes next?”

Added Unger: “Maybe this is not the area to sort of mount a resistance, but eventually there will come a mandate which will be a red line that faculty will not follow.”

Kamilah Bywaters, a UNLV doctoral candidate, said she understands the federal government is “putting very tense structures” around diversity initiatives that could lead to funding-related consequences but that the university should not “capitulate.”

“At some point, leaders have to take a stand,” she said. “I think that we have to take a stand, otherwise we’re going to find ourselves in a place where diversity, equity and inclusion will not be a norm.”

To Bywaters, rolling back initiatives, signals that “I don’t see you. I don’t see your culture.”

She noted that UNLV is still being investigated by the federal government: “Really it’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”

Months in the making

Heavey said restructuring efforts, which were presented in early September, began in the spring.

“In today’s environment, the only constant is change, but our values and our vision of improving the lives of our diverse students and transforming our communities through education and engagement remain unwavering,” he wrote.

Last week, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that UNLV had erased references online to the student diversity office and a program that offers aid to undocumented students, both of which are funded through state funds and student fees.

In a statement at the time, UNLV said it was restructuring the programs.

“These programs have not ended though in some cases the organizational structures supporting them are being modified,” the Thursday statement said. “This is part of a broad effort to build a climate of engagement and collaboration among all members of the university community.”

Heavey said that some websites were taken down temporarily so they can be changed.

In March, UNLV was one of 45 universities being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education for allegedly using “racial preferences and stereotypes in education programs and activities.”

Officials were probing “The PhD Project,” a nonprofit for doctoral students from underrepresented communities who also are pursuing business degrees.

A message seeking comment from the federal agency Tuesday bounced back with notice that the media staff was furlough due to the government shutdown.

Last week, Department of Justice officials referred UNLV to the Department of Education for an investigation that “will focus on the University’s response to antisemitism on campus” connected to protests related to the Israel-Hamas war.

The Anti-Defamation League this year gave UNLV an overall “better than most” B grading on its “campus antisemitism report card.”

“These national shifts have prompted every institution, including ours, to review our structures and practices to ensure continued compliance with evolving federal directives,” Heavey’s letter said. “As we do so, we continue to stay true to our mission and remain focused on serving our campus community.”

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.