Waste of the Day: University of Virginia Spends $20 Million On 235 DEI Staffers
Topline: The University of Virginia spent an estimated $20 million to pay its 235 “diversity, equity and inclusion” employees last year, according to payroll records obtained by OpenTheBooks.com.
Key facts: These employees under the DEI banner earned $15 million in salary and an estimated $5 million in benefits, OpenTheBooks found.
That’s the full tuition payments for nearly 1,000 in-state undergraduate students. The university only has 17,500 undergraduates.
The highest-paid DEI employees included Martin N. Davidson, who earned $587,340 in pay and estimated benefits as the school’s “global chief diversity officer.”
Vice President for DEI Kevin G. McDonald, who is in-charge of university-wide DEI programming, earned $521,905 in pay and estimated benefits. His base salary of $401,000 was more than the President of the United States was paid last year.
UVA has several separate DEI departments with overlapping goals, each with their own staff and payroll costs. The school has an Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Equity Center, an Office of Diversity and Engagement and more.
There are also DEI-related positions sprinkled throughout the university’s departments, including the urology department, engineering school, medical school and more.
The university paid six-figure salaries to 47 different DEI employees, not including benefits. Six of the employees had a higher base pay than Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s $175,000 salary.
The DEI payroll includes 82 student employees who are part-time employees or interns.
Background: DEI programs have garnered national attention in recent months. Florida and Texas recently banned DEI positions at taxpayer-funded state schools. Bills currently in the Idaho and Wyoming state legislatures are modeled loosely on Florida’s law.
Critics says that DEI judges’ people on the color of their skin, their gender identity, and their pronouns. Merit ceases as a primary measure of success. A regime of “equal outcomes” replaces Jeffersonian principles that “All men are created equal” – in other words “equal opportunity,” but no guarantee of success.
DEI cuts at the foundational principles of the American founding.
Supporting quote: A UVA spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that the university only has 55 “dedicated DEI positions,” although he wouldn’t provide OpenTheBooks with his list. Our subsequent Freedom of Information Act request for the underlying database of the 55 university admitted DEI staffers was rejected with the university saying, “No records exist.”
“We welcome students, faculty and staff who reflect the rich diversity of the Commonwealth we serve, we focus intently on teaching students to bridge differences in ideology, life experience, and other perspectives, and we strive to offer a wide range of points of view in the classroom and in programming around grounds,” the spokesperson said.
Summary: Gov. Glenn Youngkin will appoint five new members to the UVA governing body in July. Then, he will have a de facto major to push reform at UVA. So, stay tuned. It will be interesting to see if anything changes at the university.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com
We're proud to make our journalism accessible to everyone, but producing high-quality investigative pieces still comes at a cost.
That's why we need your help. By making a contribution today, you'll be supporting RealClearInvestigations and ensuring that we can keep providing in-depth reporting that holds the powerful accountable.
Donate now and help us continue to publish distinctive journalism that makes a difference. Thank you for your support!
Support RealClearInvestigations →
