U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) on Wednesday published an internal document from Belmont University, which purportedly represents the university’s guidelines to hire a new dean. According to Ogles, the university may have broken the law by prioritizing candidates based on race.
“It explicitly requires them to prioritize minority candidates,” stated Ogles in a post to the social media platform X. He wrote, “if no minority applicants come forward, the school directs them to re-advertise the position until one does.”
The guidelines obtained by Ogles, last revised in July 2021 according to the document, explains that the chair of a search committee for a new dean must monitor, “the diversity of applicants,” and be ready to “ask for additional measures to be taken to increase the diversity of the pool if the pool lacks diversity.”
A search committee must also include, “[q]ualified, diverse candidates” during its initial screening process, and if none are available, “the search committee should revisit how to best advertise the position to attract qualified, diverse applicants.”
To that end, the applications themselves must contain job descriptions that, “explicitly encourage applications from historically underrepresented groups,” and should be advertised within the “professional networks” of committee members, including email lists and other outlets, “paying special attention to recruiting minority candidates.”
In order to secure a spot on a search committee, the document states that faculty should have completed previous work to demonstrate their knowledge of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, the controversial ideology better known as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).
Ogles called the guidelines “racist and possibly illegal,” and challenged Belmont to “either end this now and salvage their reputation – or get defunded.”
🚨Belmont Bombshell #4
My team just uncovered Belmont’s official hiring guidelines for Deans.
It explicitly requires them to prioritize minority candidates—and if no minority applicants come forward, the school directs them to re-advertise the position until one does.
That’s… pic.twitter.com/rIY4BfaFrt
— Rep. Andy Ogles (@RepOgles) July 30, 2025
Belmont University did not immediately respond to a press inquiry from The Tennessee Star, asking whether the guidelines posted by Ogles represent the university’s current hiring practices, and whether Belmont agreed with Ogles’ description of the document.
The university also did not respond when asked whether it is concerned such guidelines would violate the employment laws enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), including those which prohibit discrimination against job applicants based on race, religion, sex including orientation or pregnancy, national origin, age, or disability.
An EEOC web page specifically warns, “It is illegal for an employer to publish a job advertisement that shows a preference for or discourages someone from applying for a job because of his or her race, color, religion, sex (including transgender status, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.”
This is the latest Belmont document uncovered by Ogles, who began to scrutinize the university after video was published that appeared to show a university staff member claim its DEI office was rebranded in an effort to feign compliance with executive orders, signed by President Donald Trump, which prohibit federal dollars from going to such programs.
Ogles is seeking a federal investigation into Belmont over the executive orders, and has additionally suggested the university could have violated Tennessee’s new law against human smuggling, which also makes it a crime to knowingly harbor illegal immigrants.
Should the allegations be proven true, Ogles has called for the university to lose its federal funding.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Background Photo “Belmont University Campus” by Belmont University.
A once proud Christain University is now just another indoctrination center.