{"id":2015046,"date":"2023-08-29T03:06:01","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T07:06:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/university-of-alabama-dean-identity-politics-is-the-whole-purpose-of-the-university\/"},"modified":"2023-08-29T03:09:05","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T07:09:05","slug":"university-of-alabama-dean-identity-politics-is-the-whole-purpose-of-the-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/university-of-alabama-dean-identity-politics-is-the-whole-purpose-of-the-university\/","title":{"rendered":"UA Dean: University&#8217;s Purpose is Identity Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Funiversity-of-alabama-dean-identity-politics-is-the-whole-purpose-of-the-university%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2015046&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<h2>Want to \u2062know how diversity, equity, and \u2064inclusion ideology has begun to take over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cuny-professor-resigns-from-teachers-union-that-condemned-israel\/\" title=\"CUNY Professor Resigns From Teachers\u2019 Union That Condemned Israel\">public higher education<\/a> in Alabama?<\/h2>\n<p>Read Scott Yenor\u2019s recent report, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/dc.claremont.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Going-Woke-In-Dixie-Report-3.pdf\">Going Woke in\u200d Dixie?: The\u2063 progress of DEI at the University of Alabama and Auburn University<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He details the effects of the University of Alabama\u2019s \u201cdiversity, equity, and inclusion\u201d \u2062(DEI) strategic plan, lists the number of well-paid diversity officers, and\u2063 catalogs how athletics and Greek life have \u2063been subordinated to DEI ideology. His description of DEI at Auburn University is just as comprehensive. \u201cGoing Woke in Dixie?\u201d provides\u200b chapter and verse on just how badly\u2063 DEI has colonized \u200dAlabama\u2019s system of public higher education.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>In 2019, the report notes, UA celebrated that more than one-third \u200dof its undergraduate curriculum is \u201cdiversity related.\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>The university also pays 31 \u2064dedicated DEI personnel, and its education school dean believes DEI is \u201cthe whole purpose of the university.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cSocial activism\u200d in previously underrepresented communities now helps faculty\u2062 earn tenure\u2063 at the University of Alabama, as opposed to a solid\u2063 teaching and research\u200b record,\u201d the report notes. The report estimates the\u200d two universities spend more than $5 \u200dmillion on DEI initiatives a year. Auburn\u2063 pays 20 full-time DEI staff and \u2064uses racial criteria when hiring staff.<\/p>\n<p>Radical advocates in higher education, especially in \u201cred\u201d states, often pretend DEI isn\u2019t really there. Yenor\u2019s report makes\u2064 it clear to Alabama\u2019s citizens and policymakers that any such denials from university officials will have nothing to do \u200dwith reality. The pervasive extent and illiberal effect of DEI in Alabama\u2019s \u2062public university system clearly warrants a response by Alabama\u2019s state legislators.<\/p>\n<p>The\u200b paired bills of <a href=\"https:\/\/legiscan.com\/AL\/text\/HB7\/id\/2669112\">HB7<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/legiscan.com\/AL\/bill\/SB247\/2023\">SB247<\/a>, which would \u200bban requiring \u201cdivisive concepts\u201d in\u200b Alabama\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/5-disturbing-reports-of-college-professors-selling-american-secrets-to-china\/\" title=\"5 Disturbing Reports Of College Professors Selling American Secrets To China\">higher education system<\/a>, seem a \u2063fine first step. These make\u200b clear that they do not affect classroom teaching, save when classroom teaching would \u201ccompel assent to any divisive\u2062 concept.\u201d\u200d They also \u2063state explicitly that they should not be construed \u201cto inhibit or violate any First \u200dAmendment\u200b rights.\u201d These provisions should be \u200benough to\u2064 make them pass constitutional muster. At worst, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thefire.org\/news\/buckeye-state-bill-bans-college-professors-teaching-point-view-limits-academic-freedom-rights\">cosmetic alterations<\/a> are in order.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Indeed, \u2062these bills leave much reform work to be done.<\/h3>\n<p>The bills would leave universities free to \u200dfollow\u200c accreditation regulations. Yet regional\u200c accreditors have been grossly\u2064 politicized for years, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nas.org\/blogs\/article\/an-open-letter-to-belle-s-wheelan-president-of-sacscoc\">especially<\/a> the Southern Association of Colleges and\u2063 Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), which accredits Alabama institutions. Also, while the bills\u200d would set up an\u200d expectation to remove the DEI bureaucracy from operating in\u2064 Alabama, they would provide no enforcement mechanism.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Civics Alliance of the National\u200b Association of Scholars, where I\u2063 work, has\u200c written a <a href=\"https:\/\/civicsalliance.org\/model-higher-education-code\/\">Model\u200b Higher Education Code<\/a>, \u200dwith a great\u2062 many bills that are meant to work in tandem to remove DEI from a public university. We suggest that Alabama policymakers consider using the following bills to inform\u2062 their campaign to depoliticize Alabama \u2063higher education:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Mission Statement Act<\/strong>: Commits \u2063every component of the public university system to the free and unpoliticized pursuit\u200b of truth.<\/li>\n<li><strong>College Finances Act<\/strong>: Requires \u200cbudget transparency and gives state policymakers a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-rick-scott-on-11-point-plan-with-128-promises-from-republicans-we-win-elections-by-having-plans\/\" title=\"Exclusive \u2014 Rick Scott on 11-Point Plan with 128 Promises from Republicans: \u2018We Win Elections by Having Plans\u2019\">line-item veto<\/a> on university budgets.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Higher Education Gateway Requirements Act<\/strong>: Gives\u200c state legislators \u200band the governor the power to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/university-of-alabama-dean-identity-politics-is-the-whole-purpose-of-the-university\/\" title=\"UA Dean: University's Purpose is Identity Politics\">veto proposed higher education gateway requirements<\/a> at public\u2063 universities.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Campus Freedoms Act<\/strong>: Requires public universities to guarantee a \u2063wide range of First Amendment freedoms, including freedom of\u2062 speech and freedom\u200d of religion.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Human Nature Act<\/strong>: Requires public universities to classify faculty, staff, and students by \u200bsex rather than by subjective and arbitrary \u201cgender.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong>Campus Due Process Act<\/strong>:\u2062 Requires public \u2064universities to guarantee \u200ba wide \u2062range of due\u200d process procedures.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Campus \u2062Intellectual Diversity Act<\/strong>: Mandates institutional\u200d neutrality, prohibits political discrimination, and protects\u200d pluralism for student organizations \u200band invited speakers.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Universities Nondiscrimination\u2064 Act<\/strong>:\u200c Prohibits universities \u200cfrom discriminating by group\u2062 identity and prohibits discriminatory concepts in\u2063 administrative trainings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We drafted \u200bthese model bills without enforcement mechanisms because we thought state policymakers should\u2062 determine their own measures\u200b of enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>But we also recommend that\u2063 Alabama state policymakers read Louis Bonham\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jamesgmartin.center\/2023\/07\/dei-laws-are-meaningless-without-enforcement\/\">DEI Laws Are Meaningless Without\u2062 Enforcement<\/a>.\u201d\u200d It provides a suite of\u200b enforcement mechanisms \u2014 and specifies that \u201caccreditors and the individuals acting for them within the state are also prohibited from asking \u2062or \u200drequiring schools to violate\u200b applicable state law (with statutory damages \u200cagainst accreditors and their employees if they do so).\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Yenor\u2019s excellent report makes clear that Alabama\u2019s policymakers should\u2062 act to\u2063 remove DEI policies and bureaucracies from Alabama\u2019s system\u2063 of higher education.<\/h3>\n<p>HB7\/SB247 provides an excellent first step toward this goal, and we believe the different bills in the Civics Alliance\u2019s Model Higher Education Code could inform Alabama policymakers as they seek comprehensive \u2064reform of Alabama\u2019s public colleges and universities. Bonham outlines excellent measures to enforce legislation to\u2062 remove \u2064DEI from \u200duniversities.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Alabama\u2019s \u2064public and policymakers can and should join the national campaign to restore \u2064America\u2019s proud system of higher education \u2014 \u2063and when they do, they will have the tools for \u200dthe job.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>plan and the implementation of similar initiatives at Auburn University. Yenor&#8217;s report sheds light on the increasing influence of DEI ideology in Alabama&#8217;s public higher education system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2357,"featured_media":2015047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2015046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2357"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2015046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2015047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2015046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2015046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2015046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}