Given the current administration is slashing so many programs it's clear there is a lot of language in many grants that has "DEI" or DEI-adjacent language. What is not clear is:
1) This is "forced" due to any government policy.
2) Any such policies could be attributed only to the Biden administration, or even any single administration.
Burroughs said Davey stands out not just for her mathematical prowess but also for her commitment to students in all levels of study. Davey is co-director of the department’s Directed Reading Program, which pairs undergraduate students with graduate student mentors to read and discuss books on mutual subjects of interest over the course of a semester.
“It’s a way for us to connect graduate student mentors with undergraduates, who then see what math can look like outside the classroom,” Davey said.
...
A portion of the funding from the CAREER grant will enable Davey to extend her support to young mathematicians across the country. She will organize and conduct a summer workshop in Bozeman open to 40 upper-level graduate students and post-doctoral researchers from around the nation, particularly those from underrepresented groups. Cherry noted the outreach effort coincides with the college’s long-term goal of better serving underrepresented communities in the state.
So:
1. From that it does seem she is personally invested in making her subject more approachable.
2. The college itself has a goal of encouraging such outreach.
3. In case you think the university itself was influenced by the government policies, here's a "DEI" program from its website that started in 2016: https://www.montana.edu/provost/d_i.html -- if you browse around the site there are even more programs going farther back.
Additionally, I'm personally aware of "DEI" policies in universities going back more than two decades now, long before the term "DEI" was even coined.
Seems highly likely that the language in the grant was more due to the researcher's personal preferences and the institution's policies than anything any government policies.
If you trace back through the executive orders (on then off then on again...) regarding DEI, it starts with Obama. Biden did have several and it seems like things started really getting mandated and serious then, perhaps due to BLM. We seem to have an unstable oscillation going back and forth here until it breaks.
But yes it wasn't just top-down. The diversity statements in faculty hiring started about ten years ago and started becoming mandatory and used for screening at many places about five years ago.
1) This is "forced" due to any government policy.
2) Any such policies could be attributed only to the Biden administration, or even any single administration.
I was curious so I stalked the PI in the linked grant, who happens to be female. Here is a relevant link, 3rd or so on Google: https://www.montana.edu/news/22806/montana-state-mathematics...
Burroughs said Davey stands out not just for her mathematical prowess but also for her commitment to students in all levels of study. Davey is co-director of the department’s Directed Reading Program, which pairs undergraduate students with graduate student mentors to read and discuss books on mutual subjects of interest over the course of a semester.
“It’s a way for us to connect graduate student mentors with undergraduates, who then see what math can look like outside the classroom,” Davey said.
...
A portion of the funding from the CAREER grant will enable Davey to extend her support to young mathematicians across the country. She will organize and conduct a summer workshop in Bozeman open to 40 upper-level graduate students and post-doctoral researchers from around the nation, particularly those from underrepresented groups. Cherry noted the outreach effort coincides with the college’s long-term goal of better serving underrepresented communities in the state.
So:
1. From that it does seem she is personally invested in making her subject more approachable.
2. The college itself has a goal of encouraging such outreach.
3. In case you think the university itself was influenced by the government policies, here's a "DEI" program from its website that started in 2016: https://www.montana.edu/provost/d_i.html -- if you browse around the site there are even more programs going farther back.
Additionally, I'm personally aware of "DEI" policies in universities going back more than two decades now, long before the term "DEI" was even coined.
Seems highly likely that the language in the grant was more due to the researcher's personal preferences and the institution's policies than anything any government policies.