Tag Archives: Virginia Tech

At Virginia Tech, an ideological dispute over diversity

Richmond Times Dispatch: At Tech, an ideological dispute over diversity

A letter from Virginia Tech’s president reaffirming the university’s commitment to diversity has reignited an ideological dispute over political correctness on campus.

Tech officials last month backed away from a proposed policy that critics said tied promotion and tenure to participation in diversity initiatives. An array of mostly conservative organizations had lobbied against the guidelines, calling them an affront to academic freedom and a political litmus test for promotion.

Virginia Tech Drops Diversity Requirement From Tenure Policy

The Chronicle: Virginia Tech Drops Diversity Requirement From Tenure Policy

The president of Virginia Tech has asked the provost to remove from the university’s new guidelines on tenure and promotion a requirement that professors show an “active involvement in diversity,” which some conservative groups had criticized as a violation of academic freedom.

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education and other groups had complained that the condition amounted to a political litmus test and that it had nothing to do with professors’ academic accomplishments. It did not belong, they said, in guidelines on tenure and promotion.