ASU Department Head Caught on Video Describing Coordinated Nationwide “Inclusion Network” Used to Evade Federal and State bans on DEI
January 29, 2026
An Arizona State University administrator who oversees multiple departments was caught on hidden camera by an Accuracy in Media (AIM) investigator posing as a prospective social work student. In the footage, the administrator describes how DEI initiatives continue at ASU, despite federal, state, and Board of Regents bans on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs.
Chandra Crudup, Associate Dean of Inclusive Design for Equity and Access and Clinical Associate Professor in several ASU units, stated that although DEI language has changed, the underlying work has not. ASU, she said, has relied on its charter and organizational structure to preserve what she described as its commitment to inclusivity.
On recorded video, Crudup says after seeing DEI bans enacted in Florida, ASU began preparing for similar restrictions.
“We started changing language,” she admitted, “but we are still doing the same thing.”
According to Crudup, ASU operates through a broad “inclusion network” made up of individuals like herself across academic and administrative units. These positions exist in virtually every office and work together as part of what she called an “academic enterprise.”
“It’s kind of embedded… this is who we are,” Crudup explained.
Crudup emphasized that the university avoids using the term “DEI,” instead framing its work as “inclusive practices,” which she defined as ensuring everyone is included while continuing to support disadvantaged individuals and groups.
When asked directly whether DEI is banned at ASU, Crudup responded:
“No, there is not. But to get ahead of it and to not become a target, we have shifted some of our language. Does that make sense?”
Another ASU administrator, Rebecca Loftus, previously recorded undercover by AIM, identified Crudup as the head of ASU’s Idea Office. Loftus described it as:
“A central office that gives faculty the toolbox on how to include these items and these pain points into your classes.”
Crudup confirmed this, stating that the Idea Office trains faculty through workshops, partnerships, mentoring, and ongoing support.
“We provide workshops and partner support and mentor,” she said.
She added that these efforts extend across multiple departments, including: Social Work, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Public Affairs, and Community Resources and Development.
In addition, Crudup described a scholars program for doctoral students focused on leadership training and advancing inclusive practices in academic and professional roles.
When asked whether this framework exists nationwide, Crudup pointed to Social Work as having an “extra layer” of enforcement due to accreditation requirements from the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE).
“CSWE has educational standards for every program that say you must include antiracism,” she said. “All accredited social work programs in states with these bans are struggling to figure out how do they teach the curriculum that they have to teach for their accreditation but that are being targeted by the states.”
She stated that these requirements are publicly available on CSWE’s website and are “in the language” of the accreditation standards.
When later confronted on camera by Accuracy in Media, Crudup declined to comment.
Take action by visiting SaveASU.com to send a letter urging the relevant officials to tell them that radical administrators should not be plotting ways to circumvent the law in order to advance their divisive ideology.