Professor Soucek Addresses Faculty Diversity Statements on 'Open to Debate'

Professor Brian Soucek and Harvard Law School Professor Randall Kennedy debated the question “Are DEI mandates for university faculties a bad idea?” on the Nov. 3 episode of the public radio program Open to Debate.

Soucek, who served as chair of the University of California’s systemwide Committee on Academic Freedom and as a fellow with UC’s National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement, argued that diversity statement mandates for faculty are not a bad idea. He reached this decision after much consideration, Soucek said at the episode's opening.

“I am a defender of diversity statements, but only as long as they are done the right way,” Soucek said.

Kennedy took the position that such statements are a bad idea.

You can listen to their arguments here. The episode also has or will be broadcast on many NPR stations.

Professor Soucek’s primary teaching and research interests are antidiscrimination law, civil procedure, constitutional law, and refugee/asylum law. He holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. He has clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Mark R. Kravitz in Connecticut, and Judge Guido Calabresi of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Professor Soucek is a UC Davis Chancellor’s Fellow.