Controversial "diversity" officer out at UCSD

Linda S. Greene, the $250,000-a-year diversity vice chancellor hired in 2012 by UCSD after several racial incidents on campus, has quietly left that job and returned to her previous position as a professor of law at the University of Wisconsin.

Word of the move was circulated without fanfare by the university in a brief December announcement signed by UCSD chancellor Pradeep Khosla.

Following one year of dedicated service as UC San Diego's first Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (VC-EDI), Linda S. Greene has informed us of her intention to conclude her tenure as VC-EDI effective December 31, 2013 to return to the University of Wisconsin-Madison as the Evjue-Bascom Professor of Law.

The reason for Greene's surprise decision to return to Wisconsin was not given.

As previously reported here, Greene, hired in September 2012 by university regents, did not actually arrive full-time on campus until the end of that year.

"When she accepted this offer, Ms. Greene indicated that, because of the lengthy search process, she has already committed to teaching at her current institution this fall and will be unable to begin the new assignment before December 2012."

Greene's received a substantial benefit package, including a "temporary housing allowance not to exceed $13,500 for a period of 90 days to offset limited housing-related expenses"; [and] "100 percent reimbursement of reasonable and allowable expenses.”

In addition, she was entitled to "two house-hunting trips each for the candidate and her spouse or partner," and "eligibility to participate in the UC Home Loan Program."

Greene also was entitled to get "a relocation allowance of 24 percent of base salary ($60,000), to be paid either as a lump sum or in installment payments."

When its creation was first proposed in 2011, the affirmative action position Greene was hired for set off a tempest in some circles.

Wrote Heather Mac Donald, a contributing editor to City Journal, a magazine published by the conservative Manhattan Institute for Policy Research:

"Even as UC campuses jettison entire degree programs and lose faculty to competing universities, one fiefdom has remained virtually sacrosanct: the diversity machine.

"Not only have diversity sinecures been protected from budget cuts, their numbers are actually growing.

"The University of California at San Diego, for example, is creating a new full-time vice chancellor for equity, diversity, and inclusion.”

Despite heated criticism, the position will live on after Greene.

UCSD professor of communication Carol Padden was named as interim replacement for Greene on January 6, according to an online announcement signed by Khosla. What Padden will be paid in that role was not mentioned.

Immediate attention will be given to finalizing key recruitments for the EDI team. Additionally, Dr. Padden will oversee the ongoing development of the new Raza Resource Centro, an important support mechanism that will enhance the campus experience for diverse students.

The announcement added, "A national search for the next Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion will be launched soon."

We have a call in to Greene’s Wisconsin office for more details on the circumstances of her departure.