The Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship (SAFS) has denounced the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary for restricting professor positions to black people. .“Restricted hiring is a violation of the merit principle, the principle that academic decisions should be made on academic grounds only,” said SAFS President Mark Mercer in a letter to Haskayne School of Business Dean Jim Dewald. .“By favouring candidates who possess certain non-academic characteristics, Haskayne School of Business will disadvantage scholars for no reason related to their academic accomplishments, abilities or promise.” .Mercer said excluding meritorious candidates from consideration “cannot be a sound way to achieve academic excellence.”.The letter said taking group membership into account in hiring harms scholars by making others see them in stereotypical ways and undervaluing their work. It said seeking scholars for their race, ethnicity, or other identity forces them to suppress their dignity or decline an advantage. .Since restricting candidates in non-academic grounds is discriminatory, the letter said doing so cannot serve to create a fair, equitable university. It said normalizing identity characteristics is bound to have long-lasting, unwelcome consequences, as it institutionalizes practices leading to the worst outcomes in human history. .The job ad requires applicants include in their dossiers a diversity, inclusion, and equity statement. .The letter said requiring applicants to say they support DIE ideology amounts to a political or ideological criterion. It argued this criterion runs contrary to the best university traditions of academic freedom and scholarly independence. .The letter went on to say asking for commitment to DIE ideology pressures academics into supporting a social movement they might be against. It added asking for DIE statements could encourage applicants to be evasive about or misrepresent their actual views. .Mercer concluded by saying the Haskayne School’s mission will “suffer either because promising researchers and teachers will be screened out of job competitions or because a chilling orthodoxy will envelop the university.” .“To require that prospective professors show they hold a particular set of views regarding social relations and responsibilities cannot but undermine candour, respect for intellectual autonomy and academic values generally,” he said. .U of C launched the Inclusive Excellence Cluster Hiring Initiative in November, which will recruit 45 professors from marginalized communities in the next three years. .READ MORE: U of C commits to hiring professors based on diversity.“At the University of Calgary, we are committed to equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility,” said U of C President and Vice-Chancellor Ed McCauley. .The statement said inclusive excellence affirms how diversity can deepen learning, enhance critical thinking and problem solving, and fuel creativity and innovation in academia. It said inclusive excellence is necessary to create access and success at U of C.
