Undercover videos released by investigative group Accuracy in Media show Arizona State University administrators admitting that diversity, equity, and inclusion practices remain active at the school despite a ban on the ideology, The College Fix reported.
In one video, enrollment coach Megan Neumann said the school is still “actively” incorporating DEI.
“We’re not straying away from it,” she said. “We just have to be cautious.”
In a second video, Allison Reynolds, the academic success advisor in the Psychology Department, said DEI is a “big part of … our goals.” She added that DEI is embedded in the curriculum, research labs, faculty committees, and a program called Psych4All.
According to the school’s website, Psych4All is a committee “composed of dedicated Department of Psychology faculty, staff, graduate students and undergraduate students, enhances inclusivity and excellence by strengthening our capacity to embrace different perspectives that recognize the various identities in our unit.”
The Arizona State Board of Education separately voted to remove DEI language from state standards, Fox News reported.
An ASU spokesperson told The College Fix the school will not comment on the video directly, “as ASU does not comment on secret video recordings of its employees who are not authorized to speak on behalf of the university.” The spokesperson insisted the school “complies fully with federal law and does not discriminate in admissions or scholarship selections.”
The spokesperson noted that discrimination would violate Arizona Board of Regents and ASU policy, and that ASU has operated since 2010 under a state constitutional provision that prohibits preferential treatment or discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public education.
ASU President Michael Crow told The State Press that the school is aware of the recordings and is investigating them. Crow called the covert recordings “a terrible thing to do to someone.”
Adam Guillette, president of Accuracy in Media, told The Fix the school is “full of administrative bloat” that increases tuition and forces taxpayers to fund ideological activism.
“These employees and departments need to go. In addition, any employee caught circumventing or breaking laws and rules should be prohibited from ever again earning a taxpayer-funded salary on the state level,” Guillette said. He added that universities found promoting DEI or failing to rein in administrative staff should lose federal funding.
Accuracy in Media has previously released two other undercover videos of ASU administrators, The College Fix reported. In one, Associate Dean Chandra Crudup said the school has “shifted” some of its language to “get ahead” of a DEI ban and “not become a target.”
“We started changing language, but we’re still doing the same thing,” she said.
Rebecca Loftus, associate director of criminology and criminal justice, was also caught on camera saying DEI is “still very much a part of the conversation” even though the language has been removed.
Arizona State University now faces a federal complaint from watchdog group Protect the Public’s Trust following the release of these videos. “There is overwhelming evidence that ASU is continuing its practice of promoting DEI on its campus … The practices are still illegal. And, perhaps, those accreditors should also be investigated,” the complaint states.
Last year, ASU told The Fix it was reviewing executive orders from Donald Trump and guidance from the U.S. Department of Education regarding DEI policies to ensure the university complies with federal law. The federal guidance warns that schools could lose funding if they engage in race based discrimination.
Stopping DEI through executive orders and policy changes will never be enough so long as the legal architecture that enables it remains intact. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and similar measures created the framework that allows ideologues to repackage anti-White identity politics under ever changing labels. Until lawmakers muster the courage to dismantle this civil rights regime entirely, wokeism and its future permutations will continue to burrow into American institutions and undermine the political system from within.
