Allegations of a “coverup” of widespread “discriminatory hiring” erupted at the University of Washington in June, according to audio acquired by the National Association of Scholars.
“There has been a pattern, a long-standing pattern, of illegal hiring in this university that was tacitly encouraged across the upper and central administration,” psychology professor Ione Fine declared in a departmental meeting, where several University of Washington deans were in attendance.
In remarks delivered over a chorus of objections, Fine unpacked pointed allegations of university administrators violating nondiscrimination law, avoiding accountability, and scapegoating the psychology department for actions that administrators had encouraged.
The allegations revolve around an earlier scandal, which the National Association of Scholars first reported in November of 2023, when the university’s own University Complaint Investigation and Resolution Office (UCIRO) found that a search committee re-ranked faculty job candidates on the basis of race.
In its report, the compliance office detailed how the search committee “inappropriately considered candidates’ races when determining the order of offers” and provided “disparate opportunities for candidates based on their race,” offering a rare mea culpa on a university’s DEI policies. The report described how the department’s diversity advisory committee members balked at ranking a white finalist ahead of a black finalist. The diversity advisory committee eventually won out, and the search committee changed its rankings on the basis of race.
After releasing the report, the university slapped the psychology department with a list of sanctions, including a two-year tenure-track hiring freeze. But Fine’s allegations shed new light on the scandal, holding that several university administrators were aware of “discriminatory hiring being widespread across the university.”
Fine’s speech argued that the psychology department’s reranking was explicitly encouraged by one high-level administrator, Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement Chadwick Allan, whose job involves facilitating “inclusive faculty searches.” In her remarks, Fine accused Allen of “bullying junior faculty members” on the search committee into reranking the candidates.
Other administrators, Fine further alleged, took actions to cover up the university’s involvement. Addressing the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences personally, Fine stated: “You, Dean Harris, deliberately manipulated the CIRO investigation with the goal of deliberately scapegoating the department in order to hide the involvement of upper administration. This strategy was endorsed at the highest levels, including the Board of Regents.”
Fine also alleged that Harris narrowed the scope of the investigation so that Allen’s emails would not be requisitioned. According to Fine, Allen refused to answer questions when he was interviewed for the investigation.
Having initially blown the whistle internally, Fine claimed the university’s investigation only began after it received a public records request regarding the search from the National Association of Scholars. “It was only after the freedom of information request came in, and it was clear that the illegal emails of the [diversity advisory committee] would eventually become public, that the central administration decided a CIRO was required,” she stated. The university has previously denied that the NAS request prompted its investigation.
The speech pointed to a larger pattern at the university, alleging that various dean-level administrators encouraged discriminatory hiring practices. She cited instructions given to faculty by Daniel Pollack, Dean of Natural Sciences, saying he “explicitly told them not to document race-based deliberations in writing.”
If Fine is correct, the University of Washington scapegoated the psychology department for the actions of its leadership. By investigating and sanctioning the psychology department, the university seemed to make an unusual move, strongly rebuffing actions taken in the name of “equity.” Fine challenges that narrative, suggesting the university was simply covering up its misdeeds.
Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash
