Organizers say more than 1,500 students, faculty and others have signed their names to a petition calling on University of Arizona President Suresh Garimella to reinstate diversity, equity, inclusion, and access statements and resources in the face of Trump administration pressure.
UA took down the websites for its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Cultural and Resource Centers last week, and also deleted the phrase “committed to diversity and inclusion” from its widely used “land acknowledgment” statement, which has been displayed on the university’s websites, email signatures and elsewhere since 2021.
The removals came after the U.S. Department of Education told colleges and universities to stop race-conscious and DEIA-based programs and activities within two weeks or face the loss of federal funding.
“We, the undersigned faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members, call on you to reinstate the diversity, equity, inclusion, and access (DEIA) language and resources that have been removed from the University of Arizona, including but not limited to the removal of the University of Arizona Office of Diversity and Inclusion website, and the deletion of ‘Committed to diversity and inclusion’ from the Land Acknowledgement,” says the petition, turned in to Garimella Tuesday afternoon.
“These commitments to DEIA were co-developed with the community, and, as such, any revision should include community discussion. We are also deeply concerned about alleged plans to dismantle the University’s cultural resource centers,” it says.
The petition, drafted by a group of faculty, was also sent to UA Interim Provost Ronald Marx and the UA president’s cabinet.
The DEIA petition, which is still open for signatures, was sent with 1,951 signatures, including those of 778 students, 375 alumni, 253 staff members, 227 faculty members and 208 community members, according to organizers. The signatures, gathered in about three days since the effort was launched Saturday, included 441 anonymous ones, they said. The copy they sent to media did not include the signatures.
UA’s spokesperson, Mitch Zak, said late Tuesday afternoon, “We have just received the letter and will review it, as we do all input. We will continue to keep the university community informed on these matters as appropriate.”
Last week, Zak said: “We are taking a measured approach toward ensuring compliance with new policies and procedures that will impact higher education institutions in the coming weeks and months. As a public institution, we will continue to adhere to all applicable laws at the local, state, and federal levels. We will continue to uphold our university commitment to fostering a campus environment where everyone can thrive as we advance our academic, research, and service missions.”
Garimella announced a week ago that the UA would undertake an inventory of its DEIA-related programs, after President Donald Trump said in an executive order Jan. 20 that DEI programs are “illegal and immoral discrimination.”
The Arizona Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s three public universities including UA, had not received the petition as of Tuesday afternoon, a spokeswoman said.
Vanessa Perry, an associate professor of practice in the UA’s College of Education, said, “As an institution, we have a right to implement DEIA initiatives. The lawfulness of President Trump’s anti-DEIA order is currently being challenged (in court). Now, more than ever, we need university leaders to stand firmly in our values. DEIA is who we are as a community.”
Perry acknowledged the situation is rapidly evolving, but added, “We stand with our leaders if they will stand with us. If not, we will organize, protest, and strategize, just as we have always done,” she said.
The “Wildcats4DEIA” coalition started out as a group of faculty members having conversations and organizing after Trump’s executive order, said Perry. The coalition was alarmed when the UA took its diversity and inclusion and Cultural Resource Centers websites down, and decided it was time for action.
Nolan Cabrera, a UA professor of education policy studies and practice, said there should never have been a need for a petition in the first place.
“The other Arizona institutions have not taken such drastic steps,” said Cabrera. “Bending the knee to the Trump administration will not make these attacks go away.”
UA Chair of the Faculty Leila Hudson said the petition’s robust support shows that “the aggressive, ideologically driven and sloppy approach taken by partisans testing their powers threatens our deeply held core values including our constitutional and academic freedoms.”
Perry said coalition members hope to be invited to be collaborative partners with UA administrators to discuss how to maintain DEIA and the cultural and resource centers on campus. She said they also hope the petition will slow down the university’s actions since so far, the decisions are being made behind closed doors and the university community doesn’t always know what is happening or what will happen next.
The petition said the UA’s actions were also a response to Arizona State Senate President Warren Petersen, who sent out a letter to the presidents of UA, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University Feb. 10 asking them to cease programs with activities related to: “promoting diversity;” “taking ‘affirmative action;’” and, allowing or encouraging federal contractors and subcontractors to engage in workforce balancing based on race, color, sex, sexual preference, religion, or national origin.
The DEI coalition is also joining forces with the Cultural Resource Centers Coalition, which is comprised of students and staff from the centers, Perry said.
“UA is a place that makes sure underrepresented and marginalized groups are uplifted. We dismantle barriers. We are change makers and innovators,” said Perry. “If we remove DEIA and gut our initiatives, especially the cultural resource centers, what does that say about who we are?”
