We all know that the diversity mania in higher education means preferences for those who happen to have ancestry that puts them into a “diverse” category. But it appears that one state university also pays more for those individuals.
As we read in today’s Martin Center article, Appalachian State University has higher rates of pay for grad students who are (or at least claim to be) “diverse” than for others. Pointing to university data, author Graham Hillard observes, “Perusing that column, one finds that at least some ‘diverse’ graduate students received an hourly pay rate of $15.00, despite the fact that many of their ‘non-diverse’ colleagues worked for $13.33 per hour. By the 2022-23 academic year, the ‘diversity’ hourly rate had increased to $20.00, outpacing both of the standard pay rates awarded to ‘non-diverse’ graduate students.”
Presented with the evidence, App State at first flatly denied that it discriminates against non-diverse grad students, but then turned evasive and scrubbed some information from its website.
Hillard continues, “In an email to the Martin Center this past Friday, the App State communications office disclosed that the university will no longer offer the fellowship in question after this academic year. If true, such a move is little short of an admission of guilt. The public would be remiss not to ask whether other discriminatory practices remain.”