From University of California San Diego Center for Faculty Diversity and Inclusion:

Contributions to Diversity Statements

Regardless of personal demographic characteristics, UC San Diego has a strong interest in ensuring that all candidates hired for faculty appointments share our commitment to excellence, access, and Principles of Community.

All candidates applying for faculty appointments at UC San Diego are required to submit a personal statement on their contributions to diversity. The purpose of the statement is to identify candidates who have the professional skills, experience, and/or willingness to engage in activities that will advance our campus diversity and equity goals.

In accordance with APM 210-1-d, “these contributions to diversity and equal opportunity can take a variety of forms including efforts to advance equitable access to education, public service that addresses the needs of California’s diverse population, or research in a scholar’s area of expertise that highlights inequalities.”

Departments and search committees should consider a candidate’s statement as part of a comprehensive and transparent evaluation of their qualifications. For additional guidance on how to evaluate Contributions to Diversity, please contact your School’s or Division’s Equity Advisor.

Guidelines for Writing Statements

The Contributions to Diversity Statement should describe your past efforts, as well as future plans to advance diversity, equity and inclusion. It should demonstrate an understanding of the barriers facing women and underrepresented minorities and of UC San Diego’s mission to meet the educational needs of our diverse student population. See guidelines for applicants writing statements>>

Neato.

One might think that this is insane. But then, please note the big background image that UCSD puts on their main webpage, http://www.ucsd.edu/. One can interpret this as either an admission that if you go to UCSD you will become a victim of tentacle, umm, assault, or as UCSD is a hotbed of intrusions into our domain of the Great Old Ones. Either way, insanity is to be expected.

Looking at the UCSD webpage for their graduate studies, they have such topics as Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Mathematics, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanoengineering and Wireless Embedded Systems. I am desperately intrigued to read the loyalty oaths from the instructors here, explaining how a scholar in the field of nanoengineering or mathematics has relevant research into the area of “inequalities.” I can actually kinda see how a bunch of smartass math instructors might pull this off, with multi-page rambling and unreadable discourses on the troubles of dealing with 2+2 not equaling 5. But somehow I have the suspicion that the authoritarian assassins of joy who are behind the demands for these loyalty oaths won’t have much of a sense of humor.