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Key Takeaways
- Portland State University is establishing a Chief Diversity Officer position, diverging from the national trend of reducing DEI programs due to federal pressure.
- Changes involve moving existing multicultural and retention services to the Office of Academic Affairs
- These adjustments aim to streamline student support amid financial challenges, with PSU reaffirming its commitment to diversity and inclusion despite internal shifts.
- Critics, including a political science professor, argue that PSU's actions openly defy federal guidance and criticize its past DEI initiatives as detrimental to the university's financial health.
Portland State University recently announced it is creating a university-wide Chief Diversity Officer position, seemingly bucking the trend seen at other universities nationwide, which have scaled back controversial DEI programs.
PSU’s decision came roughly five months after President Donald Trump called on universities to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives or possibly lose federal funding.
But PSU, while appearing to shutter its DEI office, is in the process of some internal reshuffling.
“The portfolio of student support services currently existing within Global Diversity and Inclusion, including multicultural student services and student retention programs, will move to the Office of Academic Affairs,” President Ann Cudd wrote in a memo to the campus community.
“[T]he Office of Equity and Compliance will transition to a newly created Office of Equity, Compliance & Internal Audit,” Cudd wrote.
She also stated the “new, university-wide Chief Diversity Officer position will be created, reporting to the President’s Office and working with departments across campus.”
The changes did result in the elimination of the position of the vice president of Global Diversity & Inclusion at PSU, held by Ame Lambert, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.
University spokesperson Katy Swordfisk said the changes are an effort to streamline student affairs by uniting different departments under one unit.
“As the higher education landscape continues to shift and PSU continues to face financial challenges, it is imperative that we streamline our operations in order to achieve the highest and most efficient service level to students from application to graduation,” she told The College Fix via email. “We will do that by uniting all of our student-facing services under a single unit: the Office of Academic Affairs.”
The changes won’t take effect until Jan. 1 so it remains to be seen if layoffs are needed, she said.
Rick Tankersley, vice president and dean of the graduate school, told The College Fix the Office of Academic Affairs will continue to support DEI.
“We remain deeply committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion as core values of our academic mission,” he told The Fix via email. “As the most diverse public university in Oregon, we must center diversity and inclusion in all our student support services, work to close equity gaps and improve graduation rates, and ensure that all students can find success.”
Tankersley said the changes ensure “equity and inclusion are embedded within student success initiatives,” adding the new Chief Diversity Officer will help “elevate and coordinate DEI efforts across the institution and with the community.”
“While we developed an initial draft of the position profile, we’re still working through the details and plan to engage the full campus community in this process when the academic year begins in September,” he said.
Reached for comment, PSU Professor of Political Science Bruce Gilley said the university is blatantly defying federal orders.
“While other universities are at least smart enough to try to conceal their DEI programs, Portland State is giving the federal government a giant middle finger,” Gilley told The College Fix via email.
Gilley further criticized Portland State University for its past policy on DEI.
“For the last 15 years, Portland State has been one of the nation’s worst race pimping institutions, forcing race into every corner of the organization through mandatory student indoctrination and lunatic asylum faculty hiring and promotion rules,” Gilley said.
Commenting on the outgoing vice president of global diversity, Gilley said the “overpaid, underwhelming current diversity czar told students in an outgoing email to celebrate the ‘wins and impact’ of her office, apparently referring to the near-bankruptcy of the school and the flight of top students due to her efforts.”
“Her reference to ‘headwinds’ at ‘this time in our national history’ is a blatant partisan statement that reveals so much about why President Trump has ordered DEI scrubbed from taxpayer burdens,” he added.
Portland State has faced recent financial trouble, including a nearly $18 million dollar budget gap, which it has tried to remedy largely by laying off non-tenured faculty, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.
Cudd had dismissed the university’s former provost Susan Jeffords in 2023 due to her “overly permissive” policies on remote learning, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Since then, PSU has had an interim provost, according to the Portland State’s website.
