Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) persists within Arizona State University (ASU) despite a federal prohibition against it.
ASU professor Owen Anderson questioned the university’s continuance of DEI practices within its Design School.
Per Anderson, ASU Provost Nancy Gonzales issued a mass email notifying the ASU community of a student-led “Design Justice Initiative.” The initiative goals included addressing inequity within the educational system, faculty, and student body; making the Design School a safe and respectful space for all; embracing diversity; and developing strategies to ensure accessibility, support, and a healthy environment.
“[The Design Justice Initiative seeks] the decolonization of the design education curriculum and pedagogy by advocating inclusive, ethical, and community-driven design practices, ensuring that marginalized voices are at the center of architectural and design solutions,” read the mission statement.
The graphics accompanying the email also described ASU’s Design Justice Initiative as a focus on reproducing or challenging “the matrix of domination” defined as “white supremacy, heteropatriarchy, capitalism, ableism, settler colonialism, and other forms of structural inequity.”
Anderson warned this initiative would lead to discrimination rather than its stated goal of inclusion.
“It is important for the public to know what is going on. Positive words like ‘inclusive excellence’ are used to cover over the reality of what is happening,” said Anderson. “‘Inclusion’ means taking from some to give to others deemed more worthy by this radical ideology.”
1/ Is ASU conforming to the executive orders to end racial discrimination in higher education? They have taken down some DEI material from their web pages. But then I get this email from our Provost about something called “design justice.” @realDonaldTrump @JDVance @elonmusk… pic.twitter.com/GhZkIgTnjo
— Dr Owen Anderson (@dr_owenanderson) March 28, 2025
An executive order from President Donald Trump effectively prohibited DEI within higher education. Enforcement of that executive order remains in limbo, however.
Last month, a federal judge blocked the DEI prohibition.
The Design Justice Initiative launched in late July 2020 in response to the death of George Floyd. The students behind the initiative asked the Design School to “recognize their obligation to institutionalize anti-racism and acknowledge that design education curriculum and pedagogy are not neutral.” Their initial list of demands included restructuring all courses at the Design School to include Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), women, “LatinX,” and LGBTQ+ voices; hiring more black as well as indigenous faculty, staff, and administration; prioritizing a network of black professionals alumni and students; conducting outreach, recruitment, and engagement with underrepresented and marginalized communities; implementing anti-racism within department chairs; mandating DEI training for all faculty, staff, and students; mandating cultural difference accommodations in classrooms; promoting past and current designers deemed diverse; mandating a course for all Design School students on advancing DEI through design; including BIPOC guest speakers; and providing more financial aid to students.
The initial leaders and co-founders of the group included students Rayven Cannon, Brennan Richards, Jamis Guy, Julia Lopez, and Oriana Gil Perez.
The Design Justice Initiative released another, more recent list of demands in January in response to College Republicans United at ASU’s initiative to encourage reports of undocumented individuals to immigration authorities. The students demanded ASU prohibit ICE from entering any campus without a warrant; prohibit hate speech; and protect undocumented students from immigration enforcement.
ASU’s Design School also maintains its webpage affirming its commitment to DEI.
The student-led initiative successfully implemented a “Design Justice” book collection focused on DEI within the arts library.
Similar efforts spawned in other major universities as well. The University of Minnesota Twin Cities also launched a similar Design Justice Initiative in 2020. In 2023, former ASU design professor and former Google employee Prasad Boradkar took over as the University of Minnesota’s Dean of College of Design.
