There’s never been any doubt that the “progressives” meant to take control of education to shape students’ minds — implanting their ideas and stamping out those that support minimal government and maximum liberty. They’ve had great success but never stop coming up with new tactics. Among the recent ones is the phenomenon of the “diversity statement.”
What such statements boil down to is making faculty members declare their support for a set of beliefs — the “diversity” agenda — and those who don’t (or don’t do so with sufficient enthusiasm) will be culled out.
In today’s Martin Center article, Professor Rob Jenkins reflects on the “toxic absurdity” of this new tactic.
Jenkins writes, “The fact that most advice on writing diversity statements focuses on ‘don’ts’ illustrates the extreme tenuousness of the vetting process as well as its perverse nature. Rather than figuring out what to say to improve their chances, candidates must tiptoe very carefully around the things they had better NOT say lest they remove themselves from consideration—including such truly deplorable and damning assertions as ‘I don’t judge people based on the color of their skin’ and ‘I try to treat everyone fairly.’”
It’s not nearly good enough for a scholar to not be a racist in any sensible meaning of that word. With the “diversity statement,” the individual needs to demonstrate his or her commitment to “antiracism,” which means a host of authoritarian measures to remake society. Thus, we get hiring preferences for those who are the most effusive in their statements.
Jenkins sums up: “The result of this practice over time will be to further diminish the academy. As Abigail Shrier, author of Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters, recently told a group of Princeton students, ‘any institution that takes our brightest, most capable young people…and tells you can only work here if you think like we tell you to and keep your mouth shut….[is] the husk of a once-great institution.’”
I have a hunch that as the higher-education bubble deflates and institutions have to struggle to attract students with clear educational value, “diversity statements” will be jettisoned as obstacles to doing that. But in the meantime, schools that use them will continue to undermine their integrity.