Scott Yenor, a guest on the podcast, discusses his investigative report on DEI programs in Alabama universities. The podcast explores the contradiction between popularity and outcomes of DEI policies, bypassing racial quotas through holistic admissions and curriculum changes, controversy surrounding building renaming and DEI surveys at Alabama and Auburn universities, and recommendations for eradicating DEI ideology.
DEI practices in universities have shifted from a bottom-up approach to a top-down imposition enforced by administrators, even in departments where it is not deeply entrenched.
DEI policies have gained significant power in taxpayer-funded public universities due to deference given to institutions and politicians' misunderstanding of terms like diversity and inclusion, perpetuating the DEI agenda on campuses.
Deep dives
Infiltration of DEI into General Education Curriculum
One of the key findings in the podcast episode is the infiltration of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices into the general education curriculum of universities. Courses related to ethics or diversity are being incorporated into the required curriculum, effectively spreading DEI ideology to all students. This phenomenon has shifted from a bottom-up approach driven by academic departments to a top-down administrative imposition. DEI is now being enforced by upper administrators who are dedicated to promoting these practices, even in departments where it is not deeply entrenched in professional standards.
DEI's Power and Influence at Public Universities
Despite the lack of popularity among the American population, the podcast explores how DEI policies and ideas have gained significant power and influence at taxpayer-funded public universities, even in solid red states. This can be partly attributed to the deference given to universities, considering them sacrosanct and immune to political interference. Additionally, politicians often confuse the original meaning of terms like diversity and inclusion with the contemporary identity-based approach embedded in DEI. This misunderstanding perpetuates the DEI agenda in higher education, fueling the ideological conquest of institutions while overlooking the true consequences of these policies on campus.
Pushback and Solutions Against DEI
The podcast highlights the growing awareness and pushback against DEI practices in state legislatures and governor's offices. Several states, including Florida, Tennessee, and Texas, have taken steps to ban DEI offices and initiatives in their education systems. By making these functions illegal through state law, legislators aim to curtail the top-down influence of DEI and foster reporting mechanisms to monitor the dismantling of these practices. Another recommended solution is to identify and address inherently politicized disciplines, where DEI ideology is deeply entrenched. This could involve redirecting state funding from such disciplines or concentrating them in separate departments designated for grievance studies.
In this episode, Scott Yenor joins Mark Bauerlein to discuss his new report on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in Alabama universities.
Music by User:Quinbrid (Luigi Boccherini) via Creative Commons. Track cropped.
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