John H. Cochrane makes the same mistake in his blog post that you are making here: treating this rubric as prescriptive and determinative in the hiring process rather than taking it for what it says it is: a sample, template, guideline, suggestion, etc.
For example, Cochrane offers a point-by-point analysis of each element and points out where he thinks they are lacking e.g.
"doesn't discuss gender or ethnicity/race." Only specific kinds of diversity need apply.
No, this is not what the rubric says. It does not say that one may only talk about specific kinds of diversity. It presents itself as a suggestion through and through, and explicitly says its not exhaustive or "ironclad". He makes the same mistake throughout.
> The "understanding" requirement especially can be twisted to argue that disagreeing with the common, ideologically slanted outlook of DEI offices equates to a lack of "understanding".
The continual framing of this document as prescriptive of hiring practices is the thing that is being twisted here. Let's be clear about what this document is: it's a communication from the DEI office intended to aid faculty search committees. It bears repeating that concrete issues of diversity and inclusion are experienced almost daily by faculty members. Students who are bullied and marginalized because of their race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, etc. are in every class I've taught, and these issue impact the learning environment and outcomes for students. Things that may seem theoretical to you or which you do not often confront are daily realities of the job for faculty, who can teach hundreds of students a year from around the world.
And so faculty do want applicants who show an understanding of these issues. What I've tried to say several times now is that many applicants do not consider DEI issues at all when applying for a faculty job. Not even a single thought. They think the job is research, which others in this thread have echoed. But that is emphatically not the job of a professor -- it may be a big part of it, but teaching and service are also very important as well.
As faculty, we understand DEI issues abound and are part of the job, and so I don't think it's unreasonable to make it part of the application process to explain how you would handle these issues in the classroom. Can you make an argument for the opposite position? That despite the fact that issues of diversity impact the classroom environment, it's not appropriate to ask a candidate how they would handle those issues.
> You're effectively saying that everything is OK so long as faculty, and not the DEI offices that, by all indications, actually drafted these scoring rubrics, are ultimately in control of the process. There's likely quite a bit of truth to what you're saying, but this nonetheless strikes me as a rather weak argument.
Why is this a weak argument? Your primary worry seems to be that these rubrics will be used as an ideological purity test. But in the context of how the process works, I've shown that it's not given the kind of consideration you believe it is given. Even when it's used to maximum effect, what it serves to do is weed out people who aren't willing to give even a modicum of consideration to issues related directly to the duties of the job.
I really have to ask again, how many DEI statements have you read? I'd really like if you could provide an example of one you felt is okay, but was rejected as insufficient by faculty. I'm trying to get a better idea of the specific objections you have.