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Recommendation comes from School of Earth and Space Exploration’s ‘Inclusive Community Committee’

Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Exploration lists priorities including hiring “BIPoC Faculty” and training students about “microaggressions” on its website as the Trump administration warns universities about diversity, equity, and inclusion practices.

A conservative professor at the public institution recently criticized these priorities, saying, “At Arizona State University, even the stars are woke.”

Through the school’s “Inclusive Community Mission” and “Inclusive Community Committee,” faculty, staff, and students work to “[empower] an inclusive School of Earth and Space Exploration by facilitating and promoting individual action, dialog, education, long-term planning and systemic change,” according to its website.

The earth and space exploration school also has a strategic plan and a list of recommendations to “guide efforts to create a more inclusive environment” at the public university.

The recommendations include “regular inclusion-related training and class discussions” for students “on topics including implicit bias, microaggressions, bystander intervention and intersectional identities.”

For staff, the school recommends addressing “power dynamics, bias and workplace climate,” and “enact[ing] equitable hiring practices.” It also recommends “provid[ing] training on inclusive practices.”

On the topic of faculty, the recommendations state the school wants to “hire and support BIPoC faculty” and “provide regular inclusion-related training,” among other things. BIPOC stands for black, indigenous, and people of color.

“The School of Earth & Space Exploration and its inclusive community efforts are committed to supporting Arizona State University’s commitment to the principle that learning is for everyone,” a university spokesperson told The College Fix in a recent email.

The spokesperson quoted the university’s charter, which states, “ASU is a comprehensive public research university, measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed…”

“It is thus our mission to facilitate broad access to and participation in our scholarship and teaching,” the spokesperson told The Fix. “All our activities to promote ASU’s Charter are voluntary and not mandatory.”

The spokesperson also directed The Fix to a video, published in March, which describes the purpose of the charter. It promotes the message that higher education “is for everyone,” including parents with children, senior citizens, and other non-traditional students.

When asked in a follow up email about the school’s priorities, including the “inclusion” training and hiring “BIPoC Faculty,” and if they conflict with the Trump administration’s recent “Dear Colleague” letter, the spokesperson told The Fix the university had “nothing else to add at this time.”

The Fix also contacted Christy Till, the school’s associate director for an Inclusive Community, and Meenakshi Wadhwa, director of the school, but neither responded to an email asking about the “Inclusive Community” efforts.

In early March, the university confirmed it was reviewing President Donald Trump’s executive orders and “Dear Colleague” letter, and said it “will comply with all applicable law,” The Fix reported at the time.

The letter, issued by the U.S. Department of Education in February, asserts that diversity, equity, and inclusion programs often discriminate based on race in violation of Title VI, and warns that federal funding could be revoked to universities that continue promoting DEI.

At the time, a university spokesperson told The Fix that ASU adheres to the Arizona State Constitution, which bans the university from favoring individuals based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in employment, education, or contracting.

However, Owen Anderson, a philosophy professor at the university, recently criticized the earth and space school for making DEI “a top priority,” writing on his Substack that “even the stars are woke.”

He told The Fix that DEI should not have a place in the space program.

“I posted my substack to X and tagged [Elon] Musk. He’s the one sending rockets to Mars. Does he require DEI training for the Mars mission. No. Science is not about discrimination,” Anderson said in a recent email interview.

Linking to documents on the school’s website, Anderson wrote that the program dedicated to astronomy, geology, planetary science, and astrophysics is “now spending its energy on social engineering, identity politics, and racial discrimination.”

“I get students reaching out to me on Substack and saying they are forced to sit through similar material in their ASU classes. They don’t like it and feel it is a waste,” Anderson told The Fix.

He said these students are afraid of speaking out, because “they are often very worried of their grades being harmed.”

Anderson, a conservative Christian, is currently suing the university alleging it requires faculty to participate in discriminatory DEI training.

“ASU had required employee DEI training that taught about the problems of whiteness and heteronormativity. It specifically targeted Christian beliefs. It was clearly discriminatory which is why I am taking ASU to court over it,” he told The Fix.

University leaders argue in court documents that the training is not mandatory, The Fix reported previously.

MORE: Ed Dept. threatens to cut federal funds of universities with DEI programs

IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Exploration promotes ‘Inclusive Community’ efforts on its website. Arizona State University

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