From 'Queer Food Politics' to DEI Rollbacks: Arizona's Universities Face Political Pressure

The Goldwater Institute released a report this week examining required coursework inside two of Arizona's most prominent university honors programs, arguing that both institutions have shifted away from traditional academic standards toward what the organization describes as ideologically driven curriculum.

The Phoenix-based free-market policy organization's findings focus on Arizona State University's (ASU) Barrett Honors College and the University of Arizona's (UofA) Franke Honors College.

Currently, Arizona's two flagship universities are under growing political pressure to scale back Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

ASU is contending with legal challenges related to mandatory training and rebranding efforts, while the University of Arizona is conducting reviews of its DEI programs.

Both institutions have begun moving away from explicit "DEI" terminology in many of their programs, adopting broader language centered on "institutional excellence" or "inclusion" instead.

Current Seminars

However, among the courses highlighted in the report is a University of Arizona honors seminar titled "Eating the Globe: The Diverse, Weird, and Queer Food Politics," which asks students to examine connections between food systems and colonization.

Another seminar, "Cut and Paste: Constructing Identity through Collage," has students working with physical materials to explore themes of identity and political activism, an approach the report's authors contend does not meet the standards expected of honors-level coursework.

At Barrett, researchers claim that more than 70% of the sections reviewed in a required course called "The Human Event" incorporated materials related to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, as well as content the institute characterized as politically one-sided.

The report, titled "Desert Brain Drain," calls on Arizona legislators to respond by requiring Board of Regents oversight of honors faculty hiring and course syllabi and restricting state funding for what the institute describes as activist research. 

State Amendment

The report also calls on supporting a pending state constitutional amendment that would ban mandatory DEI coursework at public universities.

University representatives have not issued a formal public response to the report's conclusions.

The Goldwater Institute says the findings reflect a pattern seen at universities nationwide and is encouraging lawmakers in other states to review their own institutions' honors program requirements.