University Diversity Equity Inclusion Bureaucracies: Reduce or Dismantle

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are admirable things. We’re quite fond of diversity and inclusion, in principle, and equity sounds a lot like equality, which we rather like. Unfortunately, in higher education, “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)” has taken on an Orwellian aspect — becoming a tool of “groupthink, censorship, and exclusion.” At too many colleges and universities, DEI administrative units now pose a profound threat to free inquiry and academic integrity.

More than a few reputable observers have suggested that we’ve reached “peak woke” and that the stifling threat to free thought is no longer ascendant. But the status quo is not acceptable. Unless the DEI infrastructure is rolled back, it will continue to quietly distort higher education.

JP

About the Author

Jay P. Greene

Jay P. Greene is a senior fellow at Do No Harm.

About the Author

Frederick M. Hess

Frederick M. Hess is the director of education-policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.

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Diversity, equity, and inclusion are admirable things. We’re quite fond of diversity and inclusion, in principle, and equity sounds a lot like equality, which we rather like. Unfortunately, in higher education, “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)” has taken on an Orwellian aspect — becoming a tool of “groupthink, censorship, and exclusion.” At too many colleges and universities, DEI administrative units now pose a profound threat to free inquiry and academic integrity.

More than a few reputable observers have suggested that we’ve reached “peak woke” and that the stifling threat to free thought is no longer ascendant. But the status quo is not acceptable. Unless the DEI infrastructure is rolled back, it will continue to quietly distort higher education.