Ending affirmative action, concerns about federal funds on UA Board of Regents agenda this week in Juneau
- Mark Sabbatini
- 9 hours ago
- 4 min read
Efforts to hire "women and minorities" in underrepresented positions would be eliminated to comply with Trump mandate
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
Eliminating affirmative action in hiring and evaluating various threats to funding — both in response to Trump administration policies — are among the agenda items for the University of Alaska Board of Regents during meetings in Juneau this week.
The proposed changes and funding concerns are part of an ongoing process for the university and other educational institutions nationwide since President Donald Trump began his second term in January. The board’s meetings Thursday and Friday — which will be prefaced by a public comment period from 4-5 p.m. Tuesday — will also focus on matters such as next year’s proposed budget and access to public records.
The proposed revision in hiring policy eliminates language stating "the university is committed to recruit and retain women and minorities in positions of employment where they have been traditionally under-represented." The replacement language states the university will "provide equal opportunities and access in employment to all individuals free from any unlawful discrimination on the basis of a legally protected status."
The proposed changes also eliminate references to affirmative action, as well as a list of "federal and state laws and regulations prohibiting discrimination in employment that pertain to the university as of September 2014." Among those are the Equal Pay Act; Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Age Discrimination in Employment Act; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974; Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978; Immigration Reform & Control Act of 1986; Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987; Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as amended; Age Discrimination Act of 1975; and the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act of 2008.
The proposed changes are scheduled to get their first reading at this week’s board meeting, meaning the members will need to approve advancing the revised policy to a subsequent meeting for a final vote on implementation.
Jonathon Taylor, a university spokesperson, said in an interview Monday the proposed policy changes will not noticeably alter the university’s hiring practices. The intent is to comply with an executive order by Trump on his first day back in office that revokes a 1965 order by former President Lyndon Johnson imposing affirmative action requirements on federal contractors.
"If you're reading into this ‘Is the university making meaningful changes to its hiring practices or things of that nature,’ that's not the case," Taylor said. "We're updating our policies to be consistent with the current federal landscape. We have always been an institution that treats people equally, that treats people fairly, and in our hiring practice make decisions based on merit."
Other universities nationwide have made similar changes in their hiring policies since Trump’s executive order took effect April 21. However, the Trump administration has opened multiple investigations of universities alleging they are continuing the use of affirmative action concepts — if not the words themselves — in hiring practices.
Trump is also targeting what he calls other "woke" policies at educational and other institutions, including scrutinizing universities for whether they are using affirmative action policies (or similar considerations) in admissions. Also targeted are diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, which has resulted in the University of Alaska taking actions including shutting its diversity center and removing DEI references from all print/online materials.
University officials said the DEI changes were necessary due to Trump threatening to withhold federal funds to institutions failing to comply with his demands. The Trump administration has also cut, frozen or is seeking to eliminate a wide range of other federal funds — a review of which is part of the agenda for this week’s Board of Regents meetings.
A three-page "dashboard" of the university’s federal funding sources states assigns a "high" risk level to a multitude of grants such as the Arctic Domain Awareness Center (ADAC), a critical minerals program, and various research and development programs. Taylor said about $250 million of the university’s roughly $1 billion annual budget is from federal grants, so the assessment now taking place is largely about what grant sources will and won’t continue to be available.
"What actually matters in this case is this is an assessment of all of the potential risks that we think there may be to the institution and how severe we think those risks may be," he said. "But we don't necessarily know that all of these potential things are going to come to fruition. Nor do we know that they will come to fruition in the way they appear to be heading to now. We're in a period of a lot of uncertainty. This is an attempt to try to concretize what that uncertainty may look like. And I'm not sure you could put an actual number on what the potential fiscal impact of that is."
The document notes that members of Alaska’s congressional delegation are seeking to reverse certain freezes such as the ADAC and critical minerals programs — both of which seemingly align with Trump administration polices of an expanded strategic presence in the Arctic and increased natural resources development. However, the assessment notes, "the longer the funds remain frozen the more unlikely it is that the funding will start flowing again."
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
