This article focuses on the extent to which affirmative action policies and practices as remedies for racial injustice in higher education reflect a silent covenant that sacrifices the cultivation and presence of Latina/o faculty. Drawing upon the lived experiences of 22 Mexican American faculty and post-doctoral fellows, the author argues that, by invoking affirmative action policies and practices, institutions of higher education can promote the value of racial/ethnic diversity while still limiting the presence of Latina/o faculty. Meanwhile, the few Latina/o faculty who manage to gain access to research-intensive universities are commodified and sacrificed within hostile department cultures and through oppressive institutional practices.