UI staffer: DEI decision could hurt enrollment

A University of Idaho staff member affected by the state’s decision to close diversity, equity and inclusion centers says DEI restrictions will potentially hurt student recruiting and retention.

Mario Pile, the former director of the now-closed Black and African American Cultural Center, said he feels anger, sadness and frustration over the Idaho State Board of Education’s actions this week.

On Wednesday, the SBOE unanimously approved a new resolution prohibiting central offices, policies, procedures, or initiatives dedicated to DEI ideology.

As a result, the Black and African American Cultural Center (BAACC) on the UI campus was forced to close, along with the Office of Equity and Diversity, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Diversity Center, the LGBTQA Office and the Women’s Center.

“You couldn’t make a decision like this if you really do stand for education for students,” Pile said.

The webpages for these programs have already been taken down from the UI website.

Pile will continue to work at the UI, but in a different role with the UI Department of Student Involvement. The specific details of that role still have to be worked out, he said. Pile will also serve as an adviser to the UI Black Student Union because student organizations are still allowed to operate on university campuses.

Pile said the BAACC, which started in 2022, was a space for a cohort of students he recruited to the university. It offered students a college success course, scholarship opportunities and a lounge space. It also helped connect them to resources across campus and organized student events.

Pile said it served nearly 30 students he has recruited since 2022.

Pile pointed out that the BAACC was available to non-Black students as well. For example, he said white students often used its lounge space and a Mexican student was the first student to graduate through the program.

Pile said the SBOE’s new policy on DEI failed UI students and could potentially hurt enrollment in the future. He said there is a risk that students won’t come back to the university, and that high school students won’t want to come to Moscow.

“These decisions will have dynamically direct consequences to future classes,” he said.

Pile said his students feel angry and ignored by the state, which he believes is proving that it does not care about Black people.

Pile said he would like to have a conversation with those who feel DEI keeps other students from accessing education, because he believes the opposite is true.

“The spirit of DEI is that we all get more out of the experience, not less,” he said.

Pile said the SBOE’s decision came just a few months after the BAACC hosted a grand re-opening party in its newly renovated lounge space in September.

According to an email UI President Scott Green sent to UI staff and faculty Wednesday, the UI is creating a new student engagement center in spring 2025 with programming for all students, including services specific to first-generation students.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.