Arizona State University religious studies and philosophy professor Owen Anderson is launching a legal challenge against mandatory diversity training at the taxpayer-funded school, remarking in an interview with The Sentinel that the program violates state law.

Anderson, who has been teaching at Arizona State University for more than two decades and who also serves as a pastor at Historic Christian Church of Phoenix, was informed nearly two years ago that must take an “inclusive communities” training course, complete a related quiz, and repeat the training biennially. He understood that his answers on the quiz would then be reported to his supervisor, as would any failure on his part to complete the course.

The professor and minister launched a Substack newsletter where he has been chronicling examples of the diversity training modules, which include assertions that people who do not believe in an infinite number of genders are homophobic and that white supremacy is built into the structure of the United States. Anderson told The Sentinel that the diversity initiative therefore teaches “people are to be divided based on their skin color and then blame for past events can be assigned to people in the present based on their skin color.”

“This kind of mandatory training is used to force a social and political philosophy onto all employees,” he commented. “It is specially aimed at conservatives and Christians.”

The Goldwater Institute obtained the course materials and determined that the training included divisive content based on race and sex, a reality Anderson says is “contrary to Arizona law which prohibits tax money being used to teach race blame.” Legislation was recently passed in Arizona to ban schools from providing “instruction to students or employees” claiming “one race or ethnic group is inherently morally or intellectually superior to another race or ethnic group.”

Other states have passed similar laws in recent years as the diversity, equity, and inclusion movement, also known as DEI, continues to face criticism for promoting the notion that members of minority identity groups have inherent barriers to success in leading institutions.

“Dividing people based on skin color and then assigning blame is the essence of racism,” Anderson continued. The proper response to racism is to reject it.”