A single state university in Michigan is spending close to $1 million on just five employees in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) positions that federal standards no longer allow.
Campus Reform filed a public records request and uncovered the information about the salaries at Michigan State University’s (MSU) Office for Inclusive Excellence and Impact. Altogether, MSU is spending $879,194.81 on salaries for five employees at the office. Notably, the university has attempted to remove some DEI language and masked its DEI strategic planning in order not to lose federal funding after the Trump administration insisted on elimination of the poisonous woke ideology from taxpayer-funded academia.
There are many reasons that college is overpriced in America, with some of the biggest factors being government interference and bureaucratic financial incompetence. Another reason is that many universities spend a considerable amount of money on employees and programs that should never have existed in academia to start with.
There is absolutely zero need for DEI employees at any university, and indeed they do a great deal of harm. Yet Campus Reform reports on MSU:
The highest-paid employee identified in the records is Vice President and Chief Inclusion Officer Jabbar Bennett, who earns $383,721.15 annually. Other employees reviewed by Campus Reforminclude Diversity Research Network Director Deborah Johnson ($239,309.12), Outreach and Engagement Manager Florensio Hernandez ($91,710), Assistant Director of the Diversity Research Network Micaela Flores ($89,304.14), and Staff Assistant Lisa Fuentes ($75,150.40).
Since Bennett came to MSU in 2020, his income has gone up considerably, as his original contract was for $315,000 a year, according to Campus Reform, or about $69,000 below what he currently receives annually.
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Campus Reform emphasized that the salaries for the DEI employees exceed the amount paid to many other faculty and staff at MSU. And in fact, the outlet emphasized, there are many other DEI-related employees at MSU also. The five who are receiving nearly $900,000 are only a portion of the woke staff dedicated to identity politics. There are apparently 13 other staff members at the Office for Inclusive Excellence and Impact, though Campus Reform was not able to reveal their salaries.
As Campus Reform previously reported, Michigan State began removing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) language from portions of its website following President Trump’s January 2025 executive order targeting DEI programs …
Despite those changes, Michigan State continues sponsoring initiatives that use rebranded DEI terminology. In May, the university announced a six-week “Inclusive Systems” program for faculty and students that promotes the school’s “strategic vision for inclusive excellence.”
When Campus Reform called MSU on the five DEI staffers’ salaries, the university defensively answered, “The Office for Inclusive Excellence and Impact advances MSU’s mission by fostering an environment where all students, staff and faculty have opportunities to learn, contribute and succeed.”
MSU rambled, “The office’s work aligns with the university’s focus on access, opportunity and excellence and supports student success, employee engagement and a welcoming campus community. Compensation for employees is established through standard employment and compensation processes and reflects the responsibilities, qualifications and scope of individual positions.”
Time for a new Trump administration investigation.
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