The University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents has recommended several new and revised policies for its 26 colleges and universities. They include a commitment to institutional neutrality, the prohibiting of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs and mandatory learning of our nation’s founding documents beginning in the 2025-26 school year.
“USG institutions shall remain neutral on social and political issues unless such an issue is directly related to the institution’s core mission,” the board’s proposed revisions read. “Ideological tests, affirmations, and oaths, including diversity statements,” will be banned from admissions processes and decisions, employment processes and decisions, as well as during orientation and training for both students and employees.
“No applicant for admission shall be asked to or required to affirmatively ascribe to or opine about political beliefs, affiliations, ideals, or principles, as a condition for admission,” the new policy states.
The hiring policy is clear: The University System will hire based on a person’s qualifications and ability. “The basis and determining factor” for employment will be “that the individual possesses the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with the role, and is believed to have the ability to successfully perform the essential functions, responsibilities, and duties associated with the position for which the individual is being considered.”
Furthermore, starting next year the 26 institution’s civic instruction will require students to study our country’s founding documents. among others. Students will learn about the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights, the Articles of Confederation, the Federalist Papers, the Gettysburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and the Georgia Constitution will also be studied.
The Regents statement says the recommended policies allow a campus environment “where people have the freedom to share their thoughts and learn from one another through objective scholarship and inquiry,” and “reflect an unyielding obligation to protect freedom, provide quality higher education and promote student success.”
Colleges and universities “must prepare [students] to be contributing members of society and to understand the ideals of freedom and democracy that make America so exceptional,” the board emphasized.
As for dismantling expensive DEI bureaucracies and programs, the Regents declared that equal opportunity and decisions based on merit are fundamental values of the University System. The proposed revisions say student admissions and employee hiring “should be based on a person’s qualifications, not his or her beliefs.”
