Midwest
University of Michigan to end diversity statements: 'Potential to limit freedom of expression'
The University of Michigan (UM) on Thursday ended its requirement for diversity statements for faculty hiring, promotion, and tenure.
Provost Laurie McCauley’s decision came from recommendations from an “eight-member faculty working group,” which she tasked to “explore the use of diversity statements in faculty hiring and promotion at U-M and elsewhere, and to make a recommendation.”
The eight-member faculty working group who recommended the end of the use of diversity statements consisted of “individuals with relevant expertise.”
“Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are three of our core values at the university. Our collective efforts in this area have produced important strides in opening opportunities for all people,” McCauley said. “As we pursue this challenging and complex work, we will continuously refine our approach.”
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The University of Michigan is ending its requirement for diversity statements for their faculty hiring, promotion, and tenure. (Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)
The university said that diversity statements “have been criticized for their potential to limit freedom of expression and diversity of thought on campus.”
Separately, the University of Michigan Board of Regents, which has a 6-2 Democratic majority, has also had discussions about the future of the bureaucracy associated with DEI initiatives at the university.
Sarah Hubbard, a member of the board, told “Fox & Friends” on Sunday that they have been taking a “critical look” at the university’s DEI programs and spending.
“We’re not really seeing the needle moving related to diversity of thought, in particular, on campus, let alone diversity in other ways. I have been asking a lot of questions since I was first elected to this board,” Hubbard said.
UM has reportedly spent at least $250 million on DEI since 2016, per the New York Times, which has been deeply investigating DEI operations at the university, The Times added that 56% of that amount “went to salaries and benefits for D.E.I. staff across the university’s three campuses, according to an internal review conducted last spring by Michigan’s central D.E.I. office.”
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The eight-member faculty working group who recommended the end of the use of diversity statements consisted of “individuals with relevant expertise.” (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)
Another member of UM’s board of regents, Mark Bernstein, told the Times that the money used for DEI could be used for the students.
“It is my hope that our efforts in D.E.I. focus on redirecting funding directly to students and away from a bloated administrative bureaucracy,” Benstein said.
The Times reported further that the board of regents “look to shift more of Michigan’s overall D.E.I. budget into recruitment programs and tuition guarantees for lower-income students.”
The board is a governing body elected by Michigan voters to manage UM’s finances and overall operations of the institution.
DEI on UM’s campus has been viewed as a failure by Black students.
One student called UM’s diversity efforts “superficial” and, despite the institution’s programs, they betrayed “a general discomfort with naming Blackness explicitly.”
Princess-J’Maria Mboup, the speaker of the university’s Black Student Union, told the Times that “the students that are most affected by D.E.I. — meaning marginalized communities — are invested in the work, but not in D.E.I. itself.”
View of Michigan logo on wall before game at Michigan Stadium. (Simon Bruty /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
The Times also cited UM’s own data reflecting that the institution’s pursuit of DEI resulted in a less inclusive environment via a survey in 2022. The Times reported that the data showed “students and faculty members reported a less positive campus climate than at the program’s start and less of a sense of belonging.”
University of Michigan officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
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Illinois
Illinois Democrats face backlash after blaming Trump in Chicago cross-burning case | Fox News Video
‘Outnumbered’ reacts to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson blaming President Donald Trump for a cross-burning incident in Grant Park.
Illinois Democratic leaders Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson are slammed for weaponizing a Chicago cross burning incident by blaming former President Trump. Despite the suspect, Murlin Lue, admitting his motive was to protest Trump, not racism, Pritzker and Johnson doubled down. Critics, including Illinois GOP State Rep. Chris Miller, accuse them of playing politics and fostering division rather than seeking truth.
Indiana basketball practice observations from June 25: Freshmen mixing in
IU has a game-changer, Thursday’s practice open to the media showed. IndyStar IU insider Zach Osterman explains what he saw.
BLOOMINGTON — Whatever he can.
That’s the answer. The question — one prompted by an urgency to add strength to his game — is what Vaughn Karvala, Indiana basketball’s athletic freshman wing, is doing to add weight. IU’s highest-ranked signee in the 2026 class, it’s not hard to envision a role for Karvala in Darian DeVries’ second season in Bloomington. The player himself knows that starts with meeting the physical demands of the college game.
Which starts with building onto to his 6-foot-7, 190-pound frame.
“The biggest thing for me is just putting on weight,” Karvala told reporters after practice Thursday. “That’s my biggest thing, getting stronger, trying to play with these guys that are three, four years older than me. I have to get stronger, I have to get faster, everything.”
A three-year letter winner at Oregon (Wisconsin) High School, Karvala spent his senior season at Bella Vista Prep in Arizona, bolstering a profile that saw him ranked No. 62 nationally per the 247Sports Composite.
Karvala averaged 26.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in his final season with Oregon, shooting close to 42% from behind the 3-point line. He averaged another 14.7 points per game with Team Herro on the EYBL circuit.
He handed DeVries a major recruiting win last fall, when Karvala picked the Hoosiers over Xavier and Cal. Now, both at the rim and behind the arc, Karvala looks like a player who can contribute meaningfully in his first year in college.
“I know my athleticism catches the eye, but I can still shoot it,” Karvala said. “But another thing is just working on rebounding, trying to get extra possessions for us.”
Whether on the glass or elsewhere, embracing the physical challenge of college basketball has been an emphasis for Karvala since he arrived in Bloomington earlier this summer.
That manifests itself offensively, when he tries to push the ball downhill and leverage that athleticism to attack the rim. It shows up defensively, where Karvala said he’s comfortable guarding the two, the three and, matchup depending, the four.
It even plays out on the glass, battling bigs up to including 7-2 teammate Samet Yigitoglu, who Karvala described with a smile as “the biggest guy I’ve ever seen.”
“Physicality, 100%,” Karvala said, when asked where he’s challenging himself. “Just playing with all these guys that have 20, 30, 40 pounds on me.”
Which starts with the physical demand of more weight. Karvala said he’ll eat chicken, steak or “whatever we have in the locker room” that can help him in that effort. His focus, he said, is simply to “eat a lot, and work out every day.”
As that weight and strength begin to build, Karvala knows the next step — to mentally prepare for the rough-and-tumble nature of life on the floor in the Big Ten — is just as important. Preparing his body comes first. Challenging himself to toughen up once it’s required follows quickly after.
“Just getting fully there, mentally,” he said. “You’re going to have to push your body to get through this.”
Want more Hoosiers coverage? Sign up for IndyStar’s Hoosiers newsletter. Listen to Mind Your Banners, our IU Athletics-centric podcast, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the latest on IndyStar TV: Hoosiers.
The Iowa chapter of the Land Improvement Contractors of America (LICA) officially opened a new facility on its 80-acre demonstration farm in Marshall County Thursday.
Iowa LICA President Scott Bohle said having classroom and meeting space will make it easier to educate the next generation of professional contractors, along with government employees, lawmakers and students, to help conserve soil and water in the state.
Bohle said the building “gives people a place to gather, collaborate and continue the important work that defines our association.”
Just outside the new space are wetlands, terraces, sediment control basins, bioreactors and other features, which members have built since LICA purchased the farm near Melbourne in 2000.
“We call it the one-stop shop, where you can see anything being put to practice by our landowners,” said Kelby Kiefer, executive director of Iowa LICA.
Together, these “edge-of-field” practices remove 50% of phosphates and almost 100% of the nitrates from the runoff of a 1,000-plus acre watershed, according to the association.
Adding more wetlands, saturated buffers and bioreactors across the state are a key part of Iowa’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy. It aims to cut nitrogen and phosphorus losses from farm fields by 41% and 29%, respectively.
The strategy is part of a broader effort to reduce nutrient pollution in the state’s waterways and the Gulf of Mexico by 45% compared to the 1980-96 baseline period. It does not include a target date.
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said the state has accelerated edge-of-field practices in recent years, in part through the Batch and Build model. The approach bundles projects in a targeted watershed to reduce costs and save time for farmers and contractors.
Nearly 150 nitrate reducing wetlands and around 500 saturated buffers, bioreactors and multi-purpose oxbows had been built in the state as of 2024. Thousands more will be needed to meet the state’s nutrient reduction targets.
“[Clean water is] something we need to be focused on, and we can be proud of the work that’s happened, but we know that we need to do more,” Naig said. “Buildings like this help.”
Naig said scaling up conservation infrastructure across the state will require more skilled contractors. He described them as the “critical link” between concepts and “getting things on the ground.”
“It’s from that point where you say, ‘We have a design that’s ready to go, a willing landowner,’ but somebody needs to make it happen,” Naig said. “The land improvement contractor sits in that very important spot.”
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