by James A. Bacon
How many Diversity, Equity & Inclusion employees work at the University of Virginia, and how much do they cost? Those are important questions, but they miss the big picture. Employees classified as “DEI” are only part of a large bureaucratic apparatus designed to transform the University in line with a social-justice vision that views the world through the prism of intersectional oppression. A critical piece of the DEI machinery is the office of Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights (EOCR).
From a fiscal perspective, whether UVA spends $7.5 million yearly on the university’s office of DEI, as Chief Operating Officer J.J. Davis averred at the recent Board of Visitors meeting, or $20 million university-wide, as argued by fiscal watchdog Open the Books, the sum represents a tiny fraction of the enterprise’s $5.8 billion budget. But the budget numbers don’t come close to describing the far-reaching impact of DEI on the campus culture.
For instance, UVA maintains an office of Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights (EOCR), which under federal law promotes “diversity and inclusion, provides equal opportunity and access, and eliminates unlawful discrimination.” By investigating complaints of discrimination and harassment, EOCR functions as the enforcement arm of the DEI bureaucracy.
UVA has sent mixed messages about whether the office should be included in the count of DEI employees. EOCR is federally mandated, and it has existed for years, so it really shouldn’t count, UVA has said in its critique of the Open the Books methodology. But then, as Davis noted at the Board meeting, the EOCR office is part of the University’s DEI division and reports to the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Community Partnerships.
When asked to compare UVA’s DEI spending in the 2024-25 budget compared to the current year, Davis said the “only material enhancements” to DEI occurred in the EOCR office in response to a surge in its case load.
That increase follows in the wake of guidance from the Biden administration watering down Title IX due-process protections. As summarized by Reason:
Accused students will lose their right to a guaranteed live hearing with the opportunity to have a representative cross-examine their accuser. This is accompanied by a return to the “single-investigator model,” which allows a single administrator to investigate and decide the outcome of a case. Further, under the new rules, most schools will be required to use the “preponderance of the evidence” standard, which directs administrators to find a student responsible if just 51 percent of the evidence points to their guilt.
Biden administration guidance is driving an increase in EOCR cases nationally, not just at UVA. In addition to increasing the base EOCR budget, Davis said UVA is setting aside a contingency reserve in the event that the case load increases beyond projections.
At present The EOCR staff at UVA lists on its website 17 positions (one of which is vacant) dedicated mainly to enforcing rules regarding harassment and discrimination. Many cases arise from unhappy sexual encounters between male and female students that get classified as harassment or rape; some are tied to alleged racial discrimination; and some arise from disability-related incidents. Only three EOCR staffers are male. White females predominate, occupying all but six of the 15 positions whose identities could be determined by names and photos. The No. 3 person on the EOCR staff (ranked by salary) is Rachel Spraker, whose rhetoric is replete with references to “white supremacy,” “white toxicity,” and other terms from the oppressor-oppression catechism, as previously documented by The Jefferson Council.
So, what do these people do? The EOCR office keeps detailed records of its activity, which it publishes in biennial reports. The most recent report covered the 2019-21 and 2021-22 academic years.
The Americans for Disabilities Act (ADA) team responded to 477 requests for assistance in 2021-22 in areas ranging from training events and programming (125 requests) to disability accommodations (79).
The Affirmative Action & Employment Equity group provided “online learning for employment equity” to 3,700 hiring officials and search-committee members and bias-mitigation training to 400+ students to guide the selection of residential housing advisors.
The Preventing and Addressing Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation team provided 45 training sessions the same year reaching more than 1,500 students, faculty and staff about what to do if someone witnesses “harassment, discrimination, or other prohibited conduct.” This group fielded more than 300 “reports and contacts,” including complaints submitted through the anonymous Just Report It system. In 2021-22, it conducted seven formal investigations and administrative reviews.
In 2021-22, the Title IX team conducted over 70 training sessions. Over the two-years covered in the report, staff also responded to 337 reports of sexual misconduct and conducted 33 investigations. The table below summarizes the results for academic year 2020-21: 49 students were identified by name, five were found responsible for sexual misconduct, one was expelled, and one was suspended.
Those most likely to submit complaints to the EOCR are campus militants versed in the rhetoric of intersectional oppression. They represent a minority worldview but they are filled with a sense of righteous indignation. They believe there is a “rape culture” at UVA. They believe UVA has been guilty of systemic racism since its founding in 1819. Acutely sensitive to microaggressions, they easily take offense. Instead of resolving bruised feelings person-to-person, they enlist the authority and power of the University to punish those who offend them
Backed by the rhetoric of University leadership, a hefty DEI bureaucracy, and a zealous EOCR enforcement arm, militants dominate the UVA culture in a way that budget numbers can never capture.