Exclusive: Records Detail Hefty Higher Ed DEI Spending

The University of California, Berkeley, perhaps to no one’s surprise, spent nearly $150,000 of National Science Foundation funding on “justice-centered pedagogy.” Not familiar with justice-centered pedagogy? Well, it’s the concept of delivering the opportunity for students to become “transformative intellectuals” — learning about “both the science and social context surrounding the climate change issues impacting their communities,” according to the description of the federally funded program.

In other words, more DEI dogma. 

Battleground of Ideas

While the world may or may not need another “transformative intellectual,” there’s no doubt taxpayers have spent a fortune on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives aiming to indoctrinate the next generation of leaders in Marxist theory and thought. 

As President Donald Trump begins his second term fulfilling his pledge to dismantle the DEI state within the federal government, look for colleges and universities that have used tons of federal funds for such social reengineering programs to double down on DEI. 

“Although President Trump is going to draw this all down within the federal government, that still leaves the battleground of ideas in the states,” said Christopher Neefus, communications director for Open The Books (OTB). 

The government-spending watchdog has done a deep dive into the DEI investments of some of the most renowned institutions of higher education in America. OTB plans to release a full 75-page report on a dozen schools next month. Part of that report examines the expenditures and revenues of UC Berkeley and Georgia Tech, details of which that have been provided exclusively to The Federalist for this story.

“I think that Americans should understand the DEI worldview is not just an Ivy League problem; it has penetrated across our best known universities, and these public universities owe transparency to the taxpayer,” Neefus said. 

‘Othering and Belonging’

OTB found Berkeley has been anything but transparent about just how much taxpayer money it is devoting to diversity, equity, and inclusion programming. The university did not turn over payroll data on departments, which OTB requested, so dozens, perhaps hundreds of employees could be uncounted. Just 13 staff (of a 35,500-employee workforce) with DEI titles are listed. UC Berkeley does note 109 people in its “Othering & Belonging Institute,” with a mission of advancing “groundbreaking approaches to transforming structural marginalization and inequality.” The institute publishes an “Inclusiveness Index,” which ranks the United States as the 79th most inclusive country in the world — thanks in large part to America’s insistence on incarcerating criminals. 

DEI staff members at Berkeley make a very comfortable living. Dania Matos, vice chancellor of the woke department, hauled in an annual salary of nearly $350,000, according to Open The Books’ review of 2024 salaries, the most recent data available. Che Abram, Chief of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, pulled down $152,206. Britt McClintock  a “diversity, equity, and inclusion educator, consultant, and strategist as well as an Ethnic Studies high school educator,” made $122,600 last year.  According to her bio, McClintock is a creator of “curriculums and training surrounding BIPOC and LGBTQ2+ inclusion and equity in collegiate programming.” 

Underscoring the difficulty of tracking Berkeley’s total DEI payroll, OTB found that the head of the DEI team, Elida Bautista, Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer, is listed as “Acad Prg Mgt Ofcr 5” and not counted among the 13 DEI employees noted in the university’s payroll records. There are many others like Bautista. 

Subsidizing DEI 

UC Berkeley handed out nearly $400,000 last year to DEI-related activist organizations, according to vendor spending records obtained by OTB. Recipients included the Chicago-based Workers Center for Racial Justice, a “grassroots organization fighting for Black Liberation and for a fair and inclusive society” that pocketed $58,083. Buffalo, N.Y.-based Showing Up for Racial Justice Education, which “works to undermine white supremacy and move white people to act as part of a multi-racial majority for justice,” collected $81,125. 

Berkeley also had cash — nearly $124,000 — for Oakland-based  Justice Outside, which “advances racial justice and equity in the outdoor and environmental movement,” and for fellow socialist Oakland group, the Equal Justice Society  ($37,625), which strives to broaden “conceptions of present-day discrimination to include unconscious and structural bias.”

A UC Berkeley official directed The Federalist’s request for comment to the University of California Office of the President.

DEI Does Pay

At the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), one of the nation’s top public research universities, DEI has been woven into academics and administration. The institution’s 2023 payroll reflected as much. 

According to Open The Books, Georgia Tech’s payrolls show 42 people worked in DEI roles that year, at a total cost of $3.6 million. That’s equivalent to tuition and fees for 342 in-state students, OTB notes. Of the 42 DEI staffers, 29 worked in the office of the Vice President for DEI. The highest paid was Alexis Martinez, an executive director who pulled down $183,219 in 2023. Diley Hernandez, a senior academic professional, made $159,250, according to the payroll records, and S. Gordon Moore, another executive director, recorded a salary of $145,939. 

DEI does pay. 

In 2023, Georgia Tech announced it would restructure its DEI machine, choosing instead to infuse the concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion into the full campus bloodstream as opposed to operating a separate, central office. As OTB tracked, the office of the Vice President of DEI was discontinued when director Archie Ervin retired at the end of December. Ervin was the highest paid DEI official on campus, with a salary of $283,085.

“By weaving these programs into the fabric of the Institute, we will be more effective at increasing representation and building a more inclusive culture,” University President Ángel Cabrera said in October 2023. “Rather than having programs concentrated in one separate office, we will empower the units closest to the work that can have a more direct impact in the life of the Institute.”  Curiously, after The Federalist reached out to Georgia Tech officials about the status of DEI programs and the restructuring the October 2023 press release seemed to disappear.  Thankfully, OTB has a web archive copy. 

‘Begin Discontinuing DEI’

It’s difficult to determine current DEI payroll post- “embedding.” In an email to The Federalist, Georgia Tech spokeswoman Abbigail Tumpey said the institution made the decision in 2023 to “begin discontinuing DEI programs, which included eliminating positions and realigning funding.”

Understandable, the Republican-led state legislature has introduced several bills aimed at removing divisive DEI elements from Georgia’s schools. Last month, the University System of Georgia Board of Regents recommended the elimination of mandatory DEI statements — or leftist litmus tests — as a qualification for student admissions and employee hiring. 

“All admissions processes and decisions shall be free of ideological tests, affirmations, and oaths, including diversity statements. No applicant for admission shall be asked to or required to affirmatively ascribe to or opine about political beliefs, affiliations, ideals, or principles, as a condition for admission,” the revision states. 

Georgia Tech has a robust financial relationship with the federal government — and the taxpayers who fund it. 

Since 2020 the university has garnered more than $4.5 billion in federal funding from grants and contracts, $2.8 billion in contracts, according to OTB’s review. 

“As a critical research partner for the federal government, Georgia Tech will ensure compliance with all federal and state rules as well as policies set by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia to continue accelerating American innovation and competitiveness,” Tumpey said.

‘Reflect our Values’

The far-left Biden administration was all in on the DEI agenda. On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order declaring that “equity” is “the responsibility of the whole government.” He then directed massive amounts of money infusing DEI into every aspect of the federal government. 

There’s a new sheriff in town. On Day 1, President Trump issued a multipart executive order “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.” Trump ordered all staff involved with the programs to be placed on administrative leave en route to being laid off. The federal DEI gravy train is about to dry up. It remains to be seen whether his administration will attempt to claw back “illegal” DEI funds sent to states, including public colleges and universities. The White House did not return The Federalist’s request for comment.  

The leftist resistance movement is raising the alarms to rally around DEI. 

“The University of California is aware of the recent Executive Order issued by President Trump and is assessing its potential impact on our communities,” Stett Holbrook, spokesman for the University of California Office of the President, said in an email response to The Federalist. “While there is uncertainty and anxiety among many, UC will continue to uphold and advocate for policies and programs that reflect our values, support our mission, and benefit our students, faculty, staff, and the broader communities we serve.”

Open the Books’ Neefus said even if all of the DEI spending dried up overnight, the diversity, equity, inclusion orthodoxy is deeply embedded in American college life. 

“It’s still shaping the intellectual canon and will have a lasting impact,” he said. That’s why transparency remains so critical for taxpayers, Neefus added. 

Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.