Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT) on Wednesday filed a federal complaint calling for an investigation into Arizona State University (ASU) after an administrator was caught on a hidden camera admitting the university still practices diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
ASU’s associate director of the criminology department, Rebecca Loftus, admitted to an undercover investigator that DEI is still embedded in the school’s curriculum, while staff has been hiding the ideology, according to a video released by Accuracy in Media (AIM). Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT) is calling on the Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice to “investigate Arizona State University and, if violations are substantiated, sanction the institution to the extent the Department deems appropriate,” according to the complaint obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“[A]ccording to Loftus’ own words, she believes the school is risking federal funds from being withheld due to the nature of the school’s DEI activities,” the complaint reads. “If school leadership is of that opinion, certainly this matter is worthy of an investigation.”
Loftus stated in the video that “there is a lot” of DEI still involved in the criminal justice curriculum, but that it is not “broadcast” as openly today. The director said there is an “idea office” designing classes for the department that ensures the school is “celebrating the diversity of our students.”
“You’re not going to find very many programs that are going to broadcast it as before because the federal funding for universities, especially state-run universities like ASU… If you have federal funds that are withheld, it really makes a big impact,” Loftus stated in AIM’s video.
Loftus went on to explain the classes still teach about “discriminatory practices” and how some policies disproportionately “target” certain communities, according to AIM.
ASU did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
On his first day back in office for his second term, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning DEI programs and practices in the federal government, which included prohibiting federal grants from funding such programs. Loftus in the video directly acknowledged the executive order preventing the school from openly implementing DEI practices.
“Most of our faculty do tend to be a little more on the liberal side. You have to be careful with the language that you use,” Loftus added. “We’re doing pretty much what we were doing before.”
“Too many of our educational institutions are wedded to these discriminatory policies. Even when faced with consequences, such as loss of funding, officials choose to take them underground and hide them from students, oversight bodies, and the public rather than change course,” Michael Chamberlain, director of PPT, told the DCNF. “Our schools and universities have so much potential to benefit students and the country but too often choose to prioritize politics over education.”
An ASU spokesman told the DCNF the university “has no comment on the video itself, as ASU does not comment on secret video recordings of its employees who are not authorized to speak on behalf of the university,” but stated the university does not maintain any discriminatory practices.
“Arizona State University complies fully with federal law and does not discriminate in admissions or scholarship selections,” the spokesman told the DCNF. “Not only would doing so violate Arizona Board of Regents and ASU policy, but ASU has since 2010 operated under a state constitutional provision that prohibits preferential treatment or discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public education.”
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