Major University Eyes Forcing Professors to Pledge to ‘Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’ or Have Their Tenures Denied – Opinion

A Tennessee institution is taking a stand for inclusion by threatening to exclude those who don’t stand for inclusivity.

So far as I can tell, contemporary adult society is mostly one big high school — coolness is king. And in some circles, at least, “diversity, equity, and inclusion” is all the rage.

DEI is booming in corporate America, and the military. And on college campuses nationwide, it’s taken colossal hold.

Take, for example, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s latest turn.

According to reports, the College Fix obtained 322 pages worth of diversity guidelines. These were for approximately 30,000 students. They cover 20 academic and administrative departments.

The plans call for UTK to join forces with Critical Race Collective to create an entirely new center. The partnership’s purpose: to “enhance research and scholarship capacity in [Critical Race Theory] and identify current racist policies and practices on campus.”

It would be very easy to find campus policies that discriminate against racial groups. Such would surely be reported by those victimized, and given that all regulations are doubtlessly in writing, maybe a quick word search of “because they’re black,” etc., would be a simpler and cheaper track to finally ending the university’s wretched racism.

For the moment, they should close down their school if they think that embedded bigotry is permeating their schools.

By contrast, UT Knoxville’s going full-steam ahead.

The Fix

[The College of Law intends] to embed diversity and inclusion “throughout the existing curriculum” by spring 2022 as well as launch a bias reporting system separate from the one maintained by the school. This will create an internal certificate program for diversity and inclusiveness.

According to an email by Assistant Director of News and Information Kerry Gardner, UTK is “committed to attracting and retaining a diverse student body, faculty, and staff by creating a welcoming campus where all people can be successful, feel like they have found a place to belong, learn from each other, and express themselves.”

In October 2020, the school’s Board of Trustees issued a “diversity statement.”

Here’s a part of it:

[We recognize] that diversity in the educational environment…adds value to the educational experience and the degree earned. The curricular environment is enhanced by interaction with individuals from various backgrounds. Every student has the chance to learn and contribute to the state and country. They are also able to participate in global societies. Therefore, it is vital to have a solid twenty-first-century education that embraces diversity.

As for those different “perspectives,” might they run the gamut of social and political ideology, or does UTK define such a thing as merely different colors of skin?

That remains unclear, but as part of its racism review, the school proposes that a “small working group…conduct a historical review of every named building and major outdoor space on campus to ensure that all spaces reflect a positive antiracist legacy.”

It is also recommended to create two faculties in Africana Studies immediately.

Those with an affinity for racial division will be glad to learn of support for segregated “affinity groups.”

In the College of Nursing, a plan’s on the docket to “increase awareness of cultural competence through the consideration of a policy for recognition of non-Judeo-Christian holidays.”

And the School of Social Work will increase scholarships for those aiming to work “promoting social justice and antiracism.”

The School of Architecture intends to demolish racism in building design by “opening dialogs of discrimination, repression and injustice that are embedded in the design disciplines and how these experiences shape the designers’ work.”

Perhaps most remarkably, the College of Law wants to create bylaws “that require a commitment to diversity for faculty tenure and advancement.”

So far as I know, inclusion works like God.

Diversity is also a factor.

Unfortunately — if my guess is right — the “diversity” in which UTK believes is largely one related to epidermal tint, thereby inflaming arbitrary division and further flushing the cultural commode on America’s once-sought colorblind unity.

Perhaps I’m completely off-base.

Either way, here’s to hoping UT Knoxville enjoys a magical year.

As it wave its wand to wakefulness, the school seems willing to give that a try.

-ALEX

 

You can find more of my content here:

Student Leaders Petition University to Evict ‘Wealthy and White’ Attendees, Give Their Houses to LGBT and Others

Report: Red State Spends Millions so Disabled Preschoolers Can ‘Deconstruct Whiteness’

Yale’s COVID-crazy Students are Refused to Eat in Local Restaurants

All my RedState works Here.

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