By UAS Whalesong

This is a developing story

Update Feb 25:

The University of Alaska Board of Regents recent decision to remove all mentions of affirmative action, DEI, and similar terms from UA websites and printed material has “sparked a range of reactions and concerns within our university community,” according to UA President Pat Pitney. 

“Protection from harassment and discrimination remains a fundamental priority for all members of our community,” Pitney said in a Feb. 24 letter to the statewide UA community.

In her letter, Pitney said federal funding “accounts for a significant portion of the UA budget, and the Board’s direction was driven by its responsibility to protect the university’s long-term financial and operational stability.”

Original Story Feb 22:

University of Alaska websites and print material will remove all mentions of affirmative action, DEI, and similar terms from its website and printed material to comply with President Donald Trump’s orders to end DEI practices in federal contracts and across the country.

In its meeting at Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, 10 of the 11-member UA Board of Regents voted on Friday to follow Trump’s orders. The topic was not listed on the board’s agenda. Only Student Regent Albiona Selimi voted against the motion. In place of the words, the board said UA and each university will communicate “the values of equal access and equal opportunity for all,” according to the motion.   

The board said UA policies and regulations are “to be interpreted to be consistent with, or be amended as necessary to reflect, our continuing commitments to providing university programs and activities that comply with all federal and state nondiscrimination laws, regulations, orders, and guidance.”  

In a letter to UAS faculty and staff on Friday, Chancellor Aparna Palmer said it was “a difficult decision for the Board to make but, ultimately, they were driven by their desire to ensure the long-term success of the University of Alaska system in the face of the potential threat of losing all of the federal funding we receive to support our students and employees.”

Palmer and the chancellors at UAF and UAA are to review and assess programs and operations and make the changes for their campuses. In addition to websites and printed materials, the board said position and office titles will no longer refer to affirmative action, DEI, “nor utilize the words “diversity,” “equity,” “inclusion,” or other associated terms.” 

Student Responses

The board’s action generated concern among many across the university system. In a message to the UAS Whalesong, Alyson Kenney, a senior in Environmental Resources, said she felt totally outraged by the board’s decision. 

“Both UAS and UAF are minority serving institutions. This decision acts in contradiction to the core values of the University of Alaska and leaves a lot of uncertainty for all students and faculty. This is a cowardly decision and shows that the university does not stand with its students,” Kenney said. “Our University is rooted in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. To redact these policies is to silence student voices.” She also feared for future funding threats from the Trump administration. 

While Environmental Sciences student Noah Kessler said the board’s decision “sucks,” he said he understands it. “Losing federal funding would be a huge hit, especially since we are already  underfunded,” he said. 

Environmental Studies major Liz Fruchtnicht looked at the U.S. Department of Education website before offering her response. It says the DOE has “taken action to eliminate harmful Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, including references to them in public-facing communication channels and its associated workforce”…and these actions “are the first step in reorienting the agency toward prioritizing meaningful learning ahead of divisive ideology in our schools.”

Fruchtnicht said DOE‘s argument “is that systematic racism does not exist, but it does!” However, she said that at UAS, “the statement does not reflect the views of those of us who interact with this university.”

Whalesong would like to hear from students, faculty, and staff who are concerned about the impact of the language ban on their programs.

Faculty Responses

Alaska Native Languages Professor X’unei Lance Twitchell said the board’s action to ban the words could contribute to a hostile work environment.

In an email to Whalesong, Twitchell wrote, “A university is supposed to be governed by something greater than which way the political winds are blowing.” 

Twitchell noted the lack of input from the public, students, staff, administrators, and faculty. 

“While the U.S. Constitution, the Alaska State Constitution, and Board of Regents policy all clearly outline the protections of free speech, they have decided to retire that notion and ban specific words from the entirety of the University of Alaska,” he said.

“The opposite  of diversity is homogeny, the opposite of equity is disparity, and the opposite of inclusion is exclusion,” Twitchell wrote. ”If the University of Alaska is now against these concepts, which have been vital to the advancement of civil liberties for historically oppressed peoples, then we are now an embarrassment to the concept of academic freedom and education as free exploration.”

University of Alaska Fairbanks Neurobiology and Neurophysiology Professor Abel Bult-Ito told the Whalesong: “The UA BOR motion to eliminate DEI from the university’s public record is equivalent to ethnic cleansing of the university community despite the fact that these actions are currently unconstitutional and violate our First and Fifth amendment rights.”

In her letter to the UAS community, Chancellor Palmer said the regents took care “to reaffirm their dedication to offering an open and welcoming environment for everyone to learn” and “their commitment to honoring Alaska Native culture and heritage” as well as “strong support for freedom of expression and academic freedom.” 

Facebook and Other Comments

As UAS Mathematics Professor Jill Dumesnil wrote on Facebook after the board’s action, UA Board of Regents Chair Ralph Seekins of Fairbanks “twice defended the move as being about combatting what he perceives as discrimination against people who don’t fall into minority groups.”

Alaska State Senator Löki Gale Tobin (D-Anchorage) wrote, “diversity of thought, experience, and beliefs makes us stronger.” Tobin grew up in Nome, has been a Peace Corp volunteer, and is completing her doctorate at UAF, focusing on culturally responsive education. She said, “Erasing or whitewashing the harsh realities of past policies and practices that have prevented every community member from having a full inclusive seat at the decision-making table weaken us.”

Rep. Ashley Carrick (D-Fairbanks), who is a UAF graduate, called the action “a devastating blow” and criticized the board for not listing it on the agenda nor taking any public input. “This will create a dangerous precedence for institutions of higher learning,” Carrick said. “I do not think the Board of Regents can affirm its dedication to being an inclusive and nondiscriminatory institution while implementing such harmful policies.”

In his Feb. 22nd Real Deal with Kiehl, Sen. Jesse Kiehl (D-Juneau) called Trump’s anti-diversity rules downright unconstitutional. He wrote, if they “go unchallenged (as the craven lickspittles on the Board of Regents seem to want,) highly successful programs like the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP) and Preparing Indigenous Teachers & Administrators for Alaska Schools (PITAAS) will stop their crucial work helping Alaskans achieve to their potential. Same goes for the Native and Rural Student Center at UAS and countless other programs around the UA system.” 

UA Board of Regents

University of Alaska regents are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state legislature. The student regent serves two years, and all others serve eight-year terms. The University of Alaska Southeast is represented by Regent Dale Anderson of Juneau. 

Carrick has introduced legislation to add a full-time UA tenured faculty member to the UA Board of Regents. House Bill 10 passed the House State Affairs Committee on Feb. 21. It has been referred to the House Finance Committee but not yet scheduled for a hearing. If the bill passes the legislature, the faculty member would be the twelfth regent.  

Meanwhile, national news outlets are reporting that a federal judge in Maryland on Friday granted a preliminary injunction that bars parts of President Trump’s orders to cancel federal contracts that have DEI components. 

Read the full BOR motion here.

If you have thoughts or comments about the motion, please reach out on Instagram @uaswhalesong or message us through our Contact Us page.