As the nationwide fight over diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) continues, the State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton recently held the first of 22 search committee workshops with a focus on DEI in the 2025-2026 school year.
On August 13, the Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion hosted its first Search Committee Orientation of the year, which the school describes as "ideal" for hiring managers, committee members, and department administrators.
It focused on "understanding the impact of bias in the early stages of the search process, establishing inclusive search committees, drafting inclusive job descriptions, and understanding the process for submitting all forms."
"This event and plan completely contravene the spirit of the executive order we saw from the Trump administration earlier this year and the trend we were seeing in higher ed. to roll back DEI," responds Campus Reform's Zachary Marschall.
He points out that it has proven "divisive, ineffective, and counterproductive" and says he does not expect the university to have any good results from this.
"If Binghamton University implements the principles of this workshop to how they hire faculty and staff, it will only perpetuate the same problems we are seeing in higher ed," Marschall submits.
A primary problem with DEI is that it encourages hiring based on external factors like race as opposed to merit, skill, or otherwise personal performance.
