‘DEI pledge’: Wayne State University issues statement after asking employment partners to sign commitment

Wayne State University is asking employer partners to sign a “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Pledge” that, among other things,” urges signers to promote equitable access to opportunities for LGBTQ students.

“We invite our employer partners to complete this pledge, which commits your company to uphold the diversity, equity, and inclusion standards of Wayne State University. Diversity is a core value at Wayne State University,” Wayne State University notes on its website.

The Detroit-based public university stresses that they believe exposing people to “different experiences teaches them how to accept others openly” and will educate them on working alongside “individuals from diverse backgrounds.”

“As such, we hold our employers accountable for promoting equitable access to opportunities for all WSU students, including our Black, Hispanic/LatinX, Indigenous, Students of Color, women, LGBTQ+ students, students with disabilities, and international students. We are committed to working with employers who support diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) for all,” the university writes.

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Wayne State says that by signing the DEI pledge, an employment partner “demonstrates to the WSU community that your company is committed to standing against racism, racial bias, injustice, and inequality.”

The Wayne State University webpage also includes a list of employers looking to hire through the school that has signed the DEI pledge.

Matt Lockwood, the school’s Assistant Vice President of University Communications, told Fox News Digital that it is “an entirely voluntary option for employer partners to consider signing the pledge.”

“The university works with all employers regardless of their response to it,” he continued.

The pledge drew scrutiny from several groups who spoke with The College Fix, a breaking campus news website.

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A screenshot of the “Employer Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Pledge” on the Wayne State University website.  (Wayne State University/screenshot)

The president of the Catholic Lepanto Institute, Michael Hichborn, told the news outlet that a requirement for a religious employer partner to sign the university’s DEI pledge “is an explicit form of religious discrimination.”

“The sad irony is that Wayne University’s pledge professing ‘inclusion’ is actively and willfully exclusive of all those whose religious convictions forbid them from supporting – in any way – sexual deviancy,” Hichborn said.

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Chance Layton, the communications director of the higher education reform group National Association of Scholars, was also critical of the pledge.

Layton told The Fix there is “no world where an ostensibly neutral institution should encourage companies to sign on to political pledges.”