Protest Over Move To Add Caste To US University's No Discrimination Policy

The California State University faculty members have written to the board of trustees that the new policy, which includes caste, would unfairly target a minority community for policing and disparate treatment.

More than 80 faculty members of the California State University (CSU) have opposed a recent announcement of the university to include caste in its non-discriminatory policy.

In a blistering letter to the CSU Board of Trustees opposing the move, the faculty members have written that the new policy would unfairly target a minority community for policing and disparate treatment. Adding caste as a specific and separate protected category would apply only to the faculty of Indian and South Asian descent, they said.

"The addition of caste is a misguided overreach given the existence of comprehensive policies that already protect against various forms of discrimination," said Praveen Sinha, professor of accountancy at CSU, Long Beach.

"We cannot but oppose the unique risk that CSU's move puts on us as they add a category that is only associated with people of Indian descent such as myself and thousands of other faculty and students in the CSU system. It is going to create divisions where they simply do not exist," he added.