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The Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) approved policy changes for the state university system changing the language used around diversity during its June meeting. 

This was approved as part of the consent agenda during the June 12 ABOR meeting, following a first reading at the board meeting on April 10. The board approved the consent agenda on June 12 unanimously and without comment.

The changes replace terminology in nine ABOR policies such as General Education (2-210), Early Outreach to Other Educational Systems and Ethnic Minority Communities (5-204-1) and evaluation policies for multiple categories of employee.

The June 12 meeting agenda cites Executive Order 14173, which was issued in January of this year.  According to the agenda, ABOR policy already requires compliance with antidiscrimination laws.

It adds that “several policies can be clarified to remove outdated references to revoked federal requirements and more clearly describe the board and universities� continued compliance with state and federal laws prohibiting discrimination and ongoing commitment to providing access to postsecondary attainment for all Arizonans.�

The agenda also states that federal funding is the largest source for ABOR universities.

“Higher education in this nation and this state faces new and unprecedented challenges,� said Executive Director Chad Sampson in a presentation of this item to ABOR’s university governance and operations committee on March 27. “Board staff, along with our universities and I, know every member of this board is closely monitoring these near-daily changes.�

He added: “ABOR and our universities follow the laws of governance and -- as our biggest funder and our largest amount of funding provided, a funder responsible for faculty jobs and compensation, student grants, financial aid, loans and so much more -- the federal government has made its intentions clear.�

Mentions of affirmative action are removed in the policy changes, while references to “minority� are changed to “underrepresented,� and “diversity� is removed or changed to “differentiation."

One addition to policy 5-204-1 is a definition of underrepresented groups: “any group of students who need to improve their college attainment rates.�

A section of item two in the General Education policy previously said that knowledge areas “must also include a clear and direct education around questions related to ethics, civility, diversity and inclusion.� After the changes, that list reads “ethics, civility and equality.�

ABOR's Academic Program Review policy (2-225) originally said “the [internal program] review will include an assessment of the unit’s plans and performance related to diversity in the hiring of faculty and staff and to recruitment and retention of students from underrepresented groups.� The changes remove the phrase “diversity in.�

It also repeals policy 4-324 (Special Purpose Scholarships Supported by Independent Funds), “as it is no longer necessary.� This change appears unrelated to diversity efforts.

The proposed policy changes were first brought to the regents during the March 27 meeting of ABOR’s university governance and operations committee. The motion to forward the item to the full board during the committee was also approved unanimously.

“I really appreciate the care which the staff has taken in developing these changes,� said Regent Larry Penley in that meeting. “I see them as appropriately drawn at this point within the constraints that we face without changes that weren’t particularly necessary.�

The policy changes were mentioned in three public comments during the June ABOR meeting. All three of those commenters spoke against the changes alongside other concerns, such as about the University of Arizona's decision to combine its cultural resource centers.

"And now ABOR is here today to vote on completely erasing terms like 'diversity' and 'minority' from university policies, making it even clearer that they do not value the incredible diversity of our students nor have any intention to support them,� said UA associate professor Anna Cooper in her comment. "ABOR and senior administrators are hanging us all out to dry, students and employees alike, just to avoid rocking any boats, standing up for anything."

The full text of these policies and the changes is in the agenda for the June 12-13 meeting at .