© Lincoln Journal Star file photoThe position held by UNL's first and only vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion, Marco Barker, will be eliminated at the end of the calendar year. Barker's total salary and benefits is nearly $320,000.
In an email, UNL Chancellor Rodney Bennett said to the campus community on Tuesday that the Office of Diversity and Inclusion will be closing, according to the Lincoln Journal-Star.
The change also means the university's vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion position, held by Marco Barker, will be eliminated come December. Including benefits, Barker's salary is almost $320,000.
$750,000 will also go back into the university's overall budget, which was previously allocated for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
"I fully grasp the weight of this decision and its implications," Bennett wrote, adding that "a centralized approach to this work is no longer right for our institution."
Bennett told the Lincoln Journal-Star that a recent trend of establishing DEI offices at colleges and universities has "shifted."
"I think during that period, perhaps, a goal was met and those offices have served the campuses well," Bennett said.
The Office of Diversity and Inclusion's five employees can apply for other positions across the university.
Marco should take the money and run and think himself lucky to have had the chance to earn so much for so little. The students won't be so lucky.