In early February, it was reported that South Carolina legislators requested information from our state’s 33 public colleges and universities regarding “all spending on programs, trainings, and activities targeted toward people based on their race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.” The colleges and universities, including Coastal Carolina University, were given until February 23 to respond to that request. The AAUP/AFT was informed that this request is part of a broader effort by some South Carolina legislators to effectively ban diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in publicly funded higher-education institutions in our state.
In coordination with the AAUP/AFT-SC, the AAUP/AFT-CCU Executive Board, faculty delegates and representatives, produced the following draft statement, which was approved my a majority vote of support by AAUP/AFT-CCU members.
AAUP/AFT-CCU Statement of Support for DEI Work at CCU
Earlier this month, a group of South Carolina legislators requested information from South Carolina’s public colleges and universities about spending incurred annually on “programs, trainings, and activities targeted toward people based on their race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.” According to media reports, the request mirrors similar inquiries made of publicly funded institutions of higher education in Oklahoma and Florida in recent months. Some reports state that the request is part of “a campaign by conservative activists to banish codified efforts to recruit and retain administrators, faculty members, and students from historically marginalized communities.”
In response to this development, the Coastal Carolina University (CCU) chapter of the American Association of University Professors/American Federation of Teachers (AAUP/AFT-CCU) affirms its strong commitment to CCU’s efforts to create a “learning, living and working climate where differences are welcomed and all members of Teal Nation feel that they are supported, respected, valued, and heard.”
To that end, AAUP/AFT-CCU is committed to the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion, which are defined by CCU as “the recognition and affirmation of different intersecting identities, referring not only to the background of the individual but also to the dynamic of the entire institution.” As a pillar of academic freedom and shared governance in higher education, AAUP/AFT-CCU views diversity, equity, and inclusion as integral components of daily life and work at our university. In this sense, we actively celebrate and encourage the affirmation of “identity in its various forms and expressions, including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, sex, socioeconomic status, language, national origin, religion, age, (dis)ability status and political perspective.”
AAUP/AFT-CCU will work closely with all CCU bodies, groups, members of the faculty, administrators, leaders and students, who work to protect our university’s efforts to maintain and strengthen access, equity, inclusion, and diversity at CCU.
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AAUP-CCU 