In January, University of Toronto psychologist Yoel Inbar interviewed for a role at UCLA. His girlfriend had received a job offer from the psychology department, and like many universities, UCLA has a dual career program designed to facilitate partner appointments. The interview went well, and as Inbar notes in a recent podcast, he thought that an offer was likely.
A few days after the interview, he received not an offer but, rather, news that a group of more than fifty students signed a letter demanding that he not be hired. Shortly thereafter, he was told that the ad hoc committee to whom the letter was addressed declined to recommend him for a full-department vote. He wasn’t getting the job.
Put simply, Inbar said the wrong things about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which provoked the ire of students. To be clear, Inbar is no critic of DEI. He’s certainly not a conservative. In this respect, the letter is remarkable. It doesn’t just call for what is likely illegal viewpoint discrimination, but it takes issues with opinions that are, at most, only modestly controversial. It’s thus remarkable for a second reason: it perfectly illustrates growing concerns about the effects of far-reaching university DEI policies.
Here are the main points of the letter, which the National Association of Scholars has posted on its website: