(NEW YORK)—PEN America raised concerns today over proposed changes to accreditation standards by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), one of seven nonprofit bodies that accredits higher education institutions. WASC proposes to delete all references to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) from the standards.
While “PEN America takes no position on the merits of including these terms,” writes Jeremy C. Young, Freedom to Learn program director, in a formal comment on the proposed Standards, “we are concerned that removing or altering this language now – in the face of an incoming president who has threatened to ‘fire the accreditors’ … cannot help but create the perception that WASC is bowing to political pressure and abandoning its nonpartisan mission to uphold the quality and autonomy of higher education institutions.”
A full copy of Young’s comment on the proposed Standards is below.
To the Commission:
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the proposed changes to WSCUC’s 2023 Standards of Accreditation.
As proposed, the new language would entail the total deletion of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” from the Standards. PEN America takes no position on the merits of including these terms, which carry differing interpretations, in accreditation standards. However, we are concerned that removing or altering this language now – in the face of an incoming president who has threatened to “fire the accreditors” and whose supporters via Project 2025 have said they seek to “prohibit accreditation agencies from…mandat[ing] that educational institutions adopt diversity, equity, and inclusion policies” and to remove these words from every federal agency – cannot help but create the perception that WASC is bowing to political pressure and abandoning its nonpartisan mission to uphold the quality and autonomy of higher education institutions.
The 2023 Standards of Accreditation require that a college or university “operates with appropriate autonomy governed by an independent board or similar authority.” As an organization that advocates for free expression and academic freedom on campus, PEN America strongly supports this principle of university autonomy from direct ideological control by the government. Over the past few years, the greatest threat to university autonomy has come from lawmakers who seek to pass legislation restricting university governance on ideological grounds. This has included bans on diversity, equity, and inclusion offices and programming, bans on coursework on diverse topics from general education curricula, and restrictions on diversity language in university mission statements. Some measures have also targeted accreditation bodies directly, and PEN America has resolutely defended accreditors’ ideological independence from these sorts of government restrictions.
In states where no such measures have become law, PEN America has cataloged a number of troubling examples of university precompliance due to threats by government officials – in other words, universities closing DEI offices or identity-focused degree programs without a legislative mandate to do so, simply because lawmakers have threatened such a mandate or corresponding funding cuts. While university leaders are under no obligation to maintain a DEI office or particular degree programs, retreating from this work in the face of a targeted political campaign against it fails to uphold the principle of university autonomy which anchors the work of WASC and the higher education sector alike. This sends a message that universities will voluntarily alter their values or adapt and contort themselves to suit the ideological whims of politicians.
We are concerned that the proposed changes to the Standards may be doing just that: complying with ideological restrictions before the government actually imposes them. As a practical matter, these changes are likely to inspire similar standards changes at other accreditation bodies, effectively bringing about the sector-wide changes lawmakers seek to impose without the administration actually having to mandate them legally. Without being able to fall back on explicit support for this work from their accrediting body, WASC member institutions that wish to maintain DEI work may also find it more difficult to defend themselves against further legislative attacks on their autonomy.
Accordingly, we urge WASC to consider these concerns carefully and to move forward with these changes only if it is doing so in response to the practical needs of its member institutions, and not for reasons of precompliance with political efforts at ideological control. At a bare minimum, WASC should offer a clearer, more convincing rationale to justify and explain these changes in the Standards and assuage fears of political acquiescence. If the new presidential administration wishes to promulgate an ideologically-motivated, and potentially unconstitutional, rule mandating the removal of DEI standards from the accreditation process, they may attempt to do so; but accreditors should not save them the trouble by abandoning the principle of autonomy and complying in advance.
Sincerely,
Jeremy C. Young
Program Director, Freedom to Learn
PEN America
About PEN America
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Learn more at pen.org.
Contact: Malka Margolies, [email protected], 718-530-3582