The Woke Virus Has Landed Deep in the Heart of Texas

“Wokeness” is often associated with small liberal arts colleges and the Ivy League, but it’s also found a home at one of the largest public universities in one of the reddest states in the country: the University of Texas at Austin. 

The state’s flagship public institution now subjects faculty to “mandatory training in anti-racist pedagogy and cultural competency.” It is Medical curriculum Students must be able to “examine” The “intersectionality” They are “multiple identities.” Many of the programs have diversity, equity and inclusion requirements. Faculty hiring must also be based on DEI principles. At UT’s Cockrell School of Engineering, for example, tenure and promotion decisions must “explicitly consider efforts related to DEI.”  

These measures are summarized on a Jan. 20 Report John Sailer, conservative education non-profit, of the National Association of Scholars. They indicate that DEI can come for any university—including in states like Texas where political leaders have Purge Critical race theory in public schools. 

“Red states are just as bad as anywhere else,” Sailer, who is an expert on DEI programs in higher-education, said so. “When I think of places that have really robust and invasive DEI bureaucracies, I could name Berkeley and University of Michigan, but I could also name UT Austin.” 

The University of Texas has not responded to a request for comment.

Even in Republican strongholds like Utah, which hasn’t elected a Democratic governor since the mid-’80s, DEI’s march through the universities has been swift. The Utah public universities adopted an innovative 2020 model. “anti-racist,” “Equity lens framework“This uses “Critical Race Theory as a cornerstone.” Weber State University is one school within this system. Promised That “a commitment to equity-minded and inclusive practices” This is a prerequisite “for 100% of university positions” By 2025 

The a:href=”https://www.nas.org/reports/the-anatomy-of-a-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-takeover/full-report”>University Tennessee Also, DEI statements are required on class syllabi. This creates minors in “social justice,” And requiring “DEI and cultural competency content in courses,” according to the school’s diversity action plans. 

Such initiatives run up a large tab on the public’s dime. Public universities in Florida spent $2.5 million to combat wakingness. Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida, has already declared war on it. 15 million taxpayer dollars on DEI initiatives in just the past year—enough to cover in-state tuition for thousands of students. 

A lot of this money ends in the pockets diversity officers, who are usually better compensated than adjunct faculty and even higher-paid. Some tenured. Ohio State