The social-justice warriors are pushing full steam ahead with their plans to turn our classrooms into indoctrination dens. The State University of New York system, in which I’m a political-science professor, just announced expanded “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice” requirements for every degree program starting in fall 2023.
That’s right — DEISJ classes are required to earn a degree, even in departments outside liberal arts such as math, science and engineering.
These initiatives do nothing more than cultivate division, distort reality, eliminate the power of the individual and insult any fair-minded person. DEISJ is a cultural movement, not an academic discipline, inhibiting academic freedom and doing little to prepare students for the workforce.
This curriculum has no place in education. Americans — parents, students, employers — need to defend our nation’s academic institutions, which are critical to forming a citizenry equipped to uphold our republic through economic productivity and civic engagement.
DEISJ drives are a cancer spreading throughout American institutions. To meet SUNY’s requirements, students must master specific criteria for spotting and responding to “dynamics of power, privilege, oppression, and opportunity” in all aspects of the past and the present.
As the largest university system in the country, with 64 institutions serving nearly 1.3 million students, SUNY is clearly doing its part to create a new generation of public virtue signalers. Unfortunately, it’s just one of many higher-education institutions that would rather students master DEISJ’s core components than prepare for a lifetime career. The University of Massachusetts, Drake University, Brandeis University, Villanova University and the University of California system are among the many schools adopting this radical framework.
SUNY says DEISJ courses “must explicitly address how institutional and societal structures lead to inequities across groups.” Such learning outcomes push the narrative that America is, and will continue to be, a systemically and institutionally racist country. The framework ignores the great strides made over the last two centuries and doesn’t allow any debate.
As a political-science professor, I can say that DEISJ desecrates the American identity and makes a mockery of our national motto, E Pluribus Unum — Out of many, one. From many different people, from different places, we create one nation united by core values such as liberty, self-government, equality and individualism.
Instead, DEISJ initiatives promote a victimhood culture and encourage tribalism by putting identity above country in the name of equity. Their objectives are intellectually shallow and ideologically driven as they mischaracterize America and our history. Even worse, they foster resentment and bitterness towards our country, which has provided so much opportunity despite our past sins.
Higher-education institutions should focus on equipping students with the ability to think critically, developing interpersonal skills and preparing them for the labor market. Given enrollment declines, a trend showing no signs of abating, parents and students should use the power of the purse and choose schools that value sound academic principles over woke ideology.
Alumni can also play a role in defeating DEISJ. Alumni giving makes up 23% of the money colleges and universities raise. Alumni should seriously reconsider their contributions if their alma maters continue to pursue an ideological agenda.
And corporations account for 13% of all college and university contributions. Employers can also withhold cash and continue to look at alternative ways to vet talent — some, like Google, Tesla, Bank of America, General Motors and IBM, have dropped degree requirements, and more are likely to follow. Colleges cannot afford to lose their support.
DEISJ is a lucrative multibillion-dollar industry peddling propaganda and division that we must root out of our education system. Over the last two decades, faculty like me have witnessed the collapse of academia and a drop in academic standards. We can and we must stand up to this madness and say enough is enough. Our country depends on it.
Nicholas Giordano is a political-science professor at Suffolk Community College and a Leadership Institute Campus Reform Higher Education fellow.
