Chancellor says Missouri university will ‘retire DEI terminologies’ — but there’s a catch

An email from the chancellor of a Missouri university to alumni appeared to suggest the school would merely change “terminologies” for diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and “evolve” its strategies to continue its efforts.

Blaze Media obtained a copy of the email sent by Mohammad Dehghani, the chancellor of the Missouri University of Science and Technology. Dehghani appeared to describe the “strategies” the university would use to continue DEI despite federal and state bans on DEI.

‘We will change some terminologies and approaches, but we will not renege on our commitment.’

“With DEI being retired, how do we efficiently deliver our mission and achieve our vision while adhering to our most sacred values of teamwork, individual respect, and merit-based fairness?” Dehghani asked rhetorically.

“Well, we must because every study has shown that teams with diverse SKAs (skills, knowledge, and abilities) perform better and produce superior outcomes. Another reason? The new law of the land that says we must perform all of the above without having to resort to a forcing function!” he added.

President Donald Trump issued an executive order commanding government departments and agencies to end “discriminatory” DEI policies. Republican Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe also signed an order banning such policies in state agencies.

“Doesn’t form follow function?” continued Dehghani. “If so, we have been functioning according to the laws of DEI and hopefully by now form has taken shape and will follow. That is to say that we will continue to hire people meritoriously and fairly, provide them with access to tools, training, and career enhancing experiences, and engage them inclusively.”

He gave an example of a person who takes five years to earn a GPA of 3.3 without any support compared that to another person who earns the same GPA in a shorter time with a lot of support.

“To ensure compliance we will change some terminologies and approaches, but we will not renege on our commitment to ensure that our university remains a destination of choice for faculty, staff, and students from broad and diverse backgrounds,” he added.

He went on to assert that the university would “retire DEI terminologies” but also “look beyond all status quos and evolve our strategies to ensure achievement of our desired outcomes.”

Here’s a screenshot of the email:

Image Source: Email screenshot

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