DEI Has Corrupted the Public Universities—And Must Be Abolished

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This week, my Manhattan Institute colleague Ilya Shapiro and I published model legislation to abolish so-called “diversity, equity, and inclusion” departments at public universities.

As my readers have long understood, these departments present themselves with pleasant euphemisms, but in reality, encrust the institutions with critical race ideology and encourage race-based discrimination in admissions, hiring, tenure, and campus justice. DEI—the bureaucratic expression of CRT—is antithetical to the ideals of open inquiry, academic merit, equality under law, and the pursuit of truth.

It is time to abolish these departments in public universities. As we explain in today’s Wall Street Journal, our model legislation proposes four key policies:

- Abolish DEI bureaucracies, which work actively against norms of academic freedom and truth-seeking;
- End mandatory diversity training for students, faculty, and staff, through which DEI ideology shapes campuses;
- Curtail political coercion through the use of so-called “diversity statements,” which serve as litmus tests in employment processes to exclude applicants who don’t adhere to CRT and other left-wing beliefs;
- End identity-based preferences and adopt a system of colorblind equality.

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[marktyler]

I've been cancelled by a DEI black man half my age who earns 10x as much as me because I questioned his thinking. Clearly my privilege wasn't enough to stop the grift from severely impacting my and a my child's life.

[mikelee]

We had it. We had the essentially color blind society. Racism was something universally considered unacceptable in this country. It still is, but they changed the definition to mean the opposite.

[annlouise]

'We want people that look differently but think the same.' Well said.

[RichardMunro]

i agree with you 100% as a former teacher I could see this coming down the pike. We were forced to attend CRT/implicit Bias classes. WHOLE DAYS and a number of days over a one or two year period. Evil and quite disturbing

[johnspurrier]

D.E.I is merely C.R.T. by another name.

[gregj]

Ron DeSantis has clearly proven that integrity and character crush DEI every time. Chris is 100% right in pointing out that caving or catering to the Woke Mob is only going to result in more demands. DeSantis didn't cave or cater and so his popularity shot up. Not sure why Corporations or Colleges can't emulate this because if they did, they'd actually receive a lot more business. Does anybody remember Goya Beans? Their CEO refused to capitulate and so stores couldn't keep enough Goya Beans on the shelves because consumers kept buying it up. As consumers we have incredible power to fight this.

[benardman]

Even thinking about this DEI stuff makes me feel sick

[fearsomefan]

D=Don't
E=Evaluate
I=Individuals
based on the color of their skin

[Hesiod]

"Equity is the foe of justice." -Schopenhauer

[MM-widn]

Truth. Kafka novel indeed. The acceptance of anti white discrimination is actually shocking not to mention illegal.

[francopp]

Wouldn’t it be nice to go to a university where the focus is education, socialization and experimentation? Instead of all the political overtones that get in the way of discovering oneself and experiencing the pure joy of living and embarking on independence? Instead this group think is like a cloud over a young person’s experience.

[Bigfishfun]

Rewarding people on how hard they work, how smart they work, and how ethical they are, creates INCENTIVE to do just basing rewards on what skin color someone was born with - which they of course can't change - gives them nothing to work hard for.

[iobject]

This is getting pushed at my job lately. It's still very light, so I hope it dies before it sinks it's fangs in.

[tadroid]

The identity groups within a corporation become grievance parties that encumber communication.

[lilliansheriff]

Thank you Mr. Rufo for explaining this Huge Issue in terms that EVERYONE CAN UNDERSTAND! God bless you!

[smileytownSF]

Maybe a better term than “color blindness” that would reach more people is “race neutral” or “color neutral.” Too many people get hung up on “blindness” and lefties have easy ways of attacking the “color blind” term.

[insightdesignusa]

Sending it to my Kansas Legislature‘s. Wichita, Kansas has a DEI department in K through 12 school system.

[lesliearmstrong]

Equality, merit & colorblindness 🙌🙌🙌

[TheElephantRoom]

Infinite empathy leads to infinite gullibility.

[christmastree]

Today, you go to universities to get dumber, not smarter.given a piece of paper that says degree on it and told to wait for further instructions.