Georgia’s public universities can no longer require job applicants to submit a diversity statement, prompting schools to revise faculty hiring practices.According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the University System of Georgia in July issued a new employee recruitment policy barring such statements, typically one-to-two-page documents in which applicants describe their understanding of diversity and detail experiences and goals related to advancing it. Another revised human resources policy states that mandatory employee training cannot include diversity statements.The University System pointed to language approved in the spring by the Georgia Board of Regents as the trigger for the prohibition.“The Board of Regents in April released a statement of principles regarding academic freedom and freedom of expression that, among other things, affirmed that the University System of Georgia values the diversity of intellectual thought and expression among students and faculty as well as the need for faculty to be unburdened by ideological tests, affirmations and oaths,” the system said in a statement in response to questions from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.Georgia’s new language around hiring comes amid broader questioning of campus diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts.The Georgia Professional Standards Commission earlier this year removed references to “diversity” and “equity” from its rules that guide colleges that train prospective teachers, saying such terms are “ambiguous.”This summer, Chancellor Sonny Perdue produced a report detailing millions of dollars of spending on DEI salaries and programs after Lt. Gov. Burt Jones asked how much such efforts cost Georgia’s 26 public colleges and universities. Jones has voiced concern about using taxpayer dollars to promote “divisive concepts like DEI.”Two-thirds of University System instructional faculty members are white, compared to 45% of all students, according to fall 2022 data.