On August 16, 2024, ACTA sent a letter to U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions, in reaction to his recent letter to the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Education in which he called for an investigation into DEI spending practices at higher education institutions. Ranking Member Cassidy asked the Department to respond to the following questions:
1. How much Title IV funding has been used to pay for DEI employees and/or operate DEI offices at colleges and universities in the last five years?
2. How much Title IV funding has been used to pay for DEI-related programming, including required classes and freshman orientation?
3. For each college and university that receives Title IV funding:
a. How many, and which, schools mandate “diversity statements” for employment and admissions applications?
b. How many, and which, schools mandate DEI training for students and/or employees, including through freshman orientation programming?
c. How many, and which, schools require students to take an implicit bias test as part of their freshman orientation?
d. How many, and which, schools require students to take at least one DEI-related class in order to graduate?
e. Provide any and all documents and materials used in staff training, freshman orientation programming, and classes required for graduation that refer to any racial, ethnic, shared ancestry, or national origin group as “oppressors” or a similar characterization.
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