Note: Our struggles at the University of Virginia mirror the culture wars raging across the country. From time to time The Jefferson Council will recommend articles we find to shed light on trends affecting Mr. Jefferson’s university. We are adding a button to our menu linking to an archive of these articles. Happy reading! — JAB
An obsession with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion threatens students, professors, and the very credibility of higher education in the U.S.
by John Sailer
The Free Press
In June 2020, Gordon Klein, a longtime accounting lecturer at UCLA, made the news after a student emailed him asking him to grade black students more leniently in the wake of the “unjust murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.”
Klein’s response was blunt. It stated in part:
Thanks for your suggestion in your email below that I give black students special treatment, given the tragedy in Minnesota. Do you know the names of the classmates that are black? How can I identify them since we’ve been having online classes only? Are there any students that may be of mixed parentage, such as half black-half Asian? What do you suggest I do with respect to them? A full concession or just half? Read the whole article.
Spot on! It should be called DIE because they want certain people to go away. It’s why they trigger people to hate each other – they cause it when otherwise people would just get along. They get emboldened each time, taking their divisive policies further and further. If you don’t say something, you ar part of the problem
This is a great article, but it is far worse than what we see. We “see” this, but only because of a lot of effort, after a lot of denial, and it will not change unless the change is forced. The instant cry when pushed will be “academic freedom.” Just like Jim Ryan likes to dodge responsibility by claiming “student run,” which he claims when the student run is Leftist and he approves of its stupidity, but not when an organization he hates – fraternities. They get banned for calling pledges “goats” which was absolutely done everywhere and I doubt causes permanent harm – in fact, my “goat” class all seem pretty close…
And if calling someone a “goat” requires suspension, what does requiring 3 shots of an experimental vaccine in contravention of the Nuremberg Code, and violating religious liberty? Asking for a friend there…
Meanwhile, academic freedom should come with some concept of responsibility – and mandatory DEI statements violate that. They require uniformity and “out” people who are not part of the 95% Lefty monolith. It is akin to loyalty oaths complained of during the McCarthy era. Funny, isn’t it – when Leftists require loyalty oaths to the gods of DEI, it is A-OK. But when evil American politicians wanted government officials to be loyal to America, the world was ending…
New hires have to swear fealty to DEI. Advancement and salary increases are tied to DEI fealty.
Scientific research has been corrupted by group think and federal money. Innovation is down because “researchers” fear crossing the approved line, and seeking “approved” concepts is favored to get the money and the advancement.
UVA is currently NOT an educational institution concerned with the production of knowledge and pursuing truth wherever it may lead.
DEI derives from the FRANKFURT SCHOOL, a group of German Marxists in the 1930’s. They were dismayed that Marxism hadn’t spread throughout Western Europe. They identified various social constructs which prevented Marxism from sweeping through the population: family ties, religion, education that didn’t indoctrinate, etc. They developed strategies to overcome people’s resistance. Critical Theory was born here. Just Google’ Frankfort School.’ Divide people, isolate them, indoctrinate children, turn them against parents, shut down and cancel resistance. All insidious.
On Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day it’s noteworthy that his teachings for which he gave his life have been put aside, buried you could say, by the Woke Left who have replaced “character not color” with their devisive Cancel Culture and 1618 Project for evil ends.