Utah senators ask about affirmative action, diversity while vetting higher education board nominees [Video]

Senators grilled the nominees to oversee higher and technical education in Utah Monday about their views on affirmative action, whether they would support having different standards to encourage diversity and how they would fight “bloat” to gain efficiency.

The nominations of the eight candidates who appeared before the Senate Education Confirmation Committee were all approved by committee members. Nominee Cydni Tetro was traveling Monday and did not appear; the committee will consider her candidacy at a later date.

Sen. John Johnson, R-North Ogden, cited “cultural wars” on campuses while asking nominees about moving away from a focus on race or “disaffected groups” of students to a focus on individual students.

Referring to a challenge before the U.S. Supreme Court of the consideration of race in admissions at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, Johnson asked nominee Jon Cox, “with respect to preferential treatment of certain classes, you know, diversity you can call …