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Top diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) employees at major public universities earn massive six-figure salaries for leading initiatives that
some experts found to be ineffective and instead enforce a "political orthodoxy."

A review of salary data shows that the universities of Michigan, Maryland, Virginia and Illinois, plus Virginia Tech, boast some of the highest-paid
DEI staffers at public universities, a Fox News review found. These institutions' top diversity employees earn salaries ranging from $329,000
to $430,000 – vastly eclipsing the average pay for the schools' full-time tenured professors.

Four of the colleges justified the DEI leaders' salaries, citing the executives' seniority and the importance of their responsibilities. The University of Illinois did not return a request for comment.

Experts identified these universities as having some of the most bloated
DEI staff in the country and said they each rack up millions in costs each year.

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Jay Greene, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation's Center
for Education Policy, said that while the "ostensible objective" of DEI is
to make college campuses more welcoming and inclusive, he doesn't believe
that is the purpose of the initiatives.

"Instead, the effective purpose of diversity, equity and inclusion is to
create a political orthodoxy and enforce that political orthodoxy, which fundamentally distorts the intellectual and political life on campus,"
Greene told Fox News.

The five schools shelling out top-shelf salaries to DEI personnel have
between 71 and 163 individuals devoted to diversity efforts on campus, according to a study Greene co-authored.

'Lots and lots of tuition dollars'
Greene and James Paul, director of research at the Educational Freedom Institute, co-authored a comprehensive study of DEI bureaucracies in
higher education. The pair examined 65 universities of the five "power" athletic conferences because the schools "tend to be large, public
institutions chosen by many students simply because of geographic
proximity," the study said.

"It's becoming almost an all-consuming priority where even large numbers
of staff who don't have official responsibilities for DEI – don't have it
in their job titles – are nonetheless working on it and see it as one of
their top priorities," Greene told Fox News.

Mark Perry, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a professor emeritus of economics at the University of Michigan, also
touched on this notion. He said diversity staff has expanded outside of
DEI departments.

"What's happened over the last five to 10 years is its spread out in decentralized ways," Perry told Fox News. "At the University of Michigan,
each college, school, or department on campus will have a diversity
officer, including the library, the arboretum, school of nursing – the
college of engineering at Michigan has about 10" diversity officers.

Greene said it's "shocking," given the large scale of investments, that
there is "no evidence to show it's achieving its ostensible purposes of
helping improve racial climate, tolerance and welfare of students."

He added that a university with an average DEI staff of 45 people – along
with the costs of diversity initiatives – can involve tens of millions of dollars per year. Greene said that's a "severe undercount" since it
doesn't include "all of the other efforts made by people who don't have
this in their job titles."

WATCH HERE
Experts talk diversity, equity and inclusion efforts on college
campusesVideo
Michigan, for instance, devoted $85 million in 2016 to diversity
initiatives over a five-year period, the Detroit Free Press reported.

The efforts included a program for incoming freshmen "to help assess and
then develop skills for navigating cultural and other differences,"
enhanced programming for new faculty members on "inclusive teaching
methods," programs to recruit and retain a more diverse pool of students, faculty and staff and "an innovation grant program to catalyze new ideas
from students, faculty and staff for addressing issues of diversity,
equity and inclusion," the Free Press reported.

Although it's difficult to track exactly how much a college spends on
salaries for DEI projects, Perry was able to tally the DEI payroll at
Michigan.

He said the university injects $15 million in total compensation to DEI bureaucrats, including $11.8 million for payroll and $3.8 million in
benefits. He added that universities view expanded DEI efforts as part of
their academic mission.

"They're supporting that mission with lots and lots of tuition dollars,"
Perry said.

"It's become a very expensive part of the university's bureaucracy," he continued. "Faculty have been concerned for a long time about
administrative bloat in higher education. When you look at the cost of
college over the last 10, 20, 30, 40 years, college tuition fees have gone
up more than any other consumer product, good or service."

Perry said that the explosion of DEI in administrative bureaucracy "is generating a huge cost to the university and ultimately then the students
and their parents and taxpayers."

DEI executives raking it in
Greene's study shows that the University of Michigan has the most DEI
personnel out of the universities, with 163 individuals working on such
efforts as of 2021.

Robert Sellers, Michigan's vice provost for equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer, is also the highest-paid DEI official from the top 15 colleges on their list, a Fox News review of pay at the universities
found.

Michigan's most recent faculty and staff disclosures reveal that Sellers
earns an annual salary of nearly $431,000. According to data from the
Chronicle of Higher Education, his contract is substantially more than the average salary of Michigan's full-time professors, which sits around
$174,000.

"We believe Rob Sellers' pay is appropriate for the executive-level
position he fills at U-M and it is in line with the salary of others with similar responsibilities," Rick Fitzgerald, the associate vice president
for public affairs at Michigan, told Fox News.

"He is both a vice provost with duties well beyond diversity and the university's chief diversity officer," he continued. "As chief diversity officer, he advises the president on universitywide activities related to diversity, equity and inclusion."

Sellers is not alone in his lucrative pay. Other schools with massive
staff devoted to DEI initiatives also dish out handsome paychecks to their
top equity personnel.

Georgina Dodge, the vice president at the office of diversity and
inclusion at the University of Maryland, which employs 71 DEI personnel,
makes $358,000 a year, a database of Maryland public employees shows.

The average Maryland full-time professor salary is just over $157,000.

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"Our Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion is an experienced higher education administrator, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, and a valued member
of the president's leadership team," the University of Maryland's chief communications officer, Katie Lawson, told Fox News.

"She is responsible for directing the office that investigates on-campus
sexual misconduct and discrimination and the office that coordinates
disability accommodations, as well as leading large-scale, campuswide
trainings and acadmemic [sic] support programs that serve thousands of students," Lawson said.

Menah Pratt-Clarke, vice provost for inclusion and diversity at Virginia
Tech, which has 83 DEI personnel, earns over $351,000 annually, a search
of a Virginia public employee pay shows.

The average Virginia Tech full-time professor salary sits at nearly
$142,000.

"As a land grant institution and consistent with our teaching and research mission, Virginia Tech is committed to fostering and supporting a campus community that is welcoming to all," Virginia Tech's associate vice
president for university relations, Mark Owczarski, told Fox News.

"We are grateful for the important work Dr. Pratt-Clarke, who, as a vice president and member of the president's cabinet oversees the offices of strategic affairs and diversity and inclusion, does on behalf of Virginia
Tech and the commonwealth we serve," Owczarski said.

Kevin McDonald, vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion at the University of Virginia, which has 94 employees devoted to DEI, makes
$340,000 a year, records show.

The average Virginia full-time professor salary is nearly $175,000.

"The University of Virginia's Vice President for Diversity, Equity,
Inclusion and Community Partnerships is a member of the University's
Executive Leadership team who has a broad portfolio of important
initiatives that span the entire institution," Brian Coy, a spokesperson
for the university, told Fox News.

"Our Vice President, Dr. Kevin McDonald, is a national leader in his field
and we are grateful for his service to the University," Coy continued.
"His pay is commensurate with other UVA senior executives who have pan- University responsibilities and it reflects the importance we place on
creating an environment where people from every perspective and walk of
life can live, learn, and work successfully."

Sean C. Garrick, vice chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion at
the University of Illinois, which has 71 DEI employees, earns nearly
$330,000 annually, salary disclosures show.

The average Illinois full-time professor salary hovers around $152,000.

Ethan Barton produced the accompanying graphic.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/top-dei-staff-at-public-universities- pocket-massive-salaries-as-experts-question-motives-of-initiatives

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