The University of Washington has revealed that "an internal whistleblower" exposed discrimination against white and Asian job candidates in its psychology faculty.
An internal report found that a third-placed job applicant, who was Black, was given a tenure-track assistant professor job last April, above white and Asian candidates who were ranked higher in the selection process.
Other violations included excluding white staff from meetings with job candidates, deleting a passage from a hiring report to hide discrimination, and discussing ways to "think our way around" a Supreme Court ruling that barred affirmative action in colleges.
A UW spokeswoman told Newsweek on Thursday that the case was exposed when "the dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, responding to an internal whistleblower, requested an internal review of this process by what was then called UCIRO (University Complaints, Investigation and Resolution Office) and is now the Civil Rights Investigation Office."
The psychology faculty has been barred from hiring tenured staff for two years as a result.
The UW report found that when five finalists for a tenure-track assistant professor position were selected in January 2023, they were due to be interviewed by the Women Faculty and Faculty of Color groups.
The report also said a member of the Faculty of Color did not want any white women at the meeting and complained that the interviews were "awkward" when there was a white candidate. The names of everyone involved are redacted from the UW report.
"As a person who has been on both sides of the table for these meetings, I have really appreciated them," the person wrote in an email. "Buuut, when the candidate is White, it is just awkward. The last meeting was uncomfortable, and I would go as far as burdensome for me. Can we change the policy to not do these going forward with White faculty?"
In 1998, Washington state passed a referendum banning race-based hiring in universities, which appears to have been ignored by the psychology department.
The report suggests that faculty members tried to hide the extent to which race was considered, including in the hiring report.
"I advise deleting the statement below as it shows that URM [underrepresented minority] applications were singled out and evaluated differently than non-URM applications (which is not allowed as [name redacted] noted)," one email read, according to the report.
An unnamed person wrote in another email, in March, that they were inclined to hold Faculty of Color meetings just for candidates of color.
This person also wanted some way around the then-pending 2023 case of Students For Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which banned race as a basis for college admission. The case was taken by a group of Asian-American students who had unsuccessfully applied to Harvard.
"My inclination is to hold these meetings only for POC [People of Color] candidates. I'm also mindful that our Provost is now getting anxious about anything that's directed to only some identity groups (i.e., they are getting worried about fallout from the pending Supreme Court affirmative action rulings)," this person wrote in an email.
"My read is that they'll get fearful of litigation and overcorrect into colorblindness. Maybe our committee can preemptively think our way around this type of future directive," the faculty member wrote.
The university's public record office had planned to release staff emails on December 14 to John Sailer, a senior fellow at the conservative-leaning National Association of Scholars, an organization which campaigns against race-based admissions and hiring policies in universities.
In an email seen by Newsweek, the public records office informed Sailer that the requested records won't be released in full until April 26, 2024.
The UW spokeswoman told Newsweek on Thursday that "Mr. Sailer's first public records request on this was submitted on April 5, 2023.
"These requests are processed on a first-in, first-out basis and some are more complicated than others; his request was quite comprehensive, requiring significant review and redaction considerations, and as a result, it is still in progress. Mr. Sailer also has seven active records requests and these, again, are being processed on a first-in, first-out basis."
The university announced on its website that the psychology department is now "barred from conducting searches for tenured and tenure-track faculty positions" for at least two years, "subject to review by the Provost's Office."
It also said the department will "undergo a comprehensive review and revision of its hiring processes," and all department members "will receive training on how to conduct searches consistent with law and policy."
"The University is taking personnel action to address individual actions," the statement added. "These proceedings are confidential."
A substantial number of redacted emails are included in the university's report, which was released on October 31 and is published on its website.
Sailer told Newsweek the UW report "shows universities — professors and administrators alike — discriminate with a total sense of impunity. It's an egregious example, notable for how much is in writing, but it really is just one more example."
"This kind of discrimination in the name of "equity" is commonplace, even when blatantly illegal. And that's instructive in light of Students For Fair Admissions," he said.
"UW insists that its investigation had nothing to do with my public records request. I'm not so sure about that. After all, until its investigation, administrators from the university promoted the psychology department's hiring framework, which the university has now deemed to be in violation of its non-discrimination policy. That's a big reversal," he said.
On its website, UW's psychology department lists its first mission as promoting social equity "by investigating biased attitudes, inequities, and disparities... by redesigning organizational practice" and "by solving social justice issues."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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