{"id":2265068,"date":"2024-06-11T14:42:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-11T18:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/university-spent-100k-to-celebrate-new-dei-initiative-that-included-espresso-bar-and-hip-hop-performance\/"},"modified":"2024-06-11T14:46:14","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T18:46:14","slug":"university-spent-100k-to-celebrate-new-dei-initiative-that-included-espresso-bar-and-hip-hop-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/university-spent-100k-to-celebrate-new-dei-initiative-that-included-espresso-bar-and-hip-hop-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"University Spends $100k on DEI Launch Featuring Espresso Bar, Hip-Hop Show"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/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-spent-100k-to-celebrate-new-dei-initiative-that-included-espresso-bar-and-hip-hop-performance%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=2265068&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--><p>The University of Michigan celebrated its &#8220;DEI 2.0&#8221; plan in \u2062October\u200b 2023, spending \u2063about $100,000 on the event. The celebration included features such as an espresso bar, a hip-hop\u2064 performance, and a lecture on the connection between <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">critical race theory<\/a> and hip-hop. The specifics of the celebration were disclosed through a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/after-commuting-his-sentence-ca-gov-newsom-reverses-parole-for-convicted-double-murderer\/\" title=\"After Commuting His Sentence, CA Gov. Newsom Reverses Parole For Convicted Double Murderer\">public records request<\/a> obtained by The College Fix.\u2064 The university&#8217;s \u200bannual DEI Summit aimed to mark the 50th anniversary of hip-hop and delve into its links with critical\u200b race theory, using storytelling as a tool \u200dfor social \u2063change. Activities\u2062 included a roundtable\u200b with \u200c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-bad-does-a-n-have-to-be-that-jon-stewart-would-stomp-him-dave-chappelle-jokes-about-man-who-attacked-him-at-hollywood-bowl\/\" title=\"\u2018How Bad Does A N***** Have To Be That Jon Stewart Would Stomp Him?\u2019: Dave Chappelle Jokes About Man Who Attacked Him At Hollywood Bowl\">hip-hop artists<\/a> and experts \u200bon critical race theory, along \u2063with performances\u200c by Rapsody and\u200c others.\u200b According to the university, this event aligns with its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, reflecting its\u2063 extensive DEI initiatives \u2062across over 51 units, benefiting its \u2063large student and employee base. Notably,\u2062 significant funds were allocated \u2062for keynote\u200b speakers, including $25,000 to David Banner for a short \u2063speech and panel participation, and $35,000 to Rapsody for her performance and contribution to\u2063 the discussion.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p>The University of Michigan spent about $100,000 celebrating its \u201cDEI 2.0\u201d plan, which included an espresso bar, hip-hop performance, and a lecture connecting \u201ccritical race theory and hip-hop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The event took place in October 2023, but the details <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/umich-spends-100k-on-dei-2-0-launch-cotton-candy-cart-hip-hop-performance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">were provided<\/a> to The College Fix via a public records request last month, which reported the findings last week.<\/p>\n<p>The university\u2019s public affairs department <a href=\"https:\/\/record.umich.edu\/articles\/dei-summit-to-explore-critical-race-theory-hip-hop\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">announced<\/a> the event, which is an annual DEI Summit, saying it would \u201ccelebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop and highlight its intersection with critical race theory, celebrating and exploring the power of storytelling as a driving force for social change.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The event included \u201ca roundtable discussion with hip-hop artists and critical race theory experts\u201d and performances from Rapsody and others.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDiversity, equity and inclusion are core values at the University of Michigan,\u201d university spokesperson Colleen Mastony told the Fix in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe university\u2019s DEI efforts are far-reaching in ways appropriate to the size, scope, and complexity of our university \u2013 spanning across 51 units of the university and serving functions that support our over 50,000 students and over 50,000 employees,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>As The Fix noted, the university spent around $60,000 on its two keynote speakers, paying hip-hop artist, producer, and activist David Banner $25,000 for a 10-minute speech and his participation in a 45-minute moderated roundtable discussion. Hip-hop artist Rapsody was paid $35,000 for a musical performance and her participation in the roundtable discussion. The contracts for each included first<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/faa-reveals-more-details-on-system-outage-that-grounded-flights-nationwide\/\" title=\"FAA Reveals More Details On System Outage That Grounded Flights Nationwide\">-class air travel<\/a> and coach tickets for their traveling companions, along with transportation, lodging, and meals for two nights.<\/p>\n<p><b><a href=\"https:\/\/onelink.to\/dwapp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" aria-describedby=\"sk-tooltip-9096\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/onelink.to\/dwapp&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1700760801843000&#038;usg=AOvVaw2PQrVSrJfhxNb4LcARqniG\">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<p>The university also spent another $32,564 on catering, audio equipment, decorations, and photography. This included a $1,750 mobile espresso cart, a $395 photo booth, and a $550 cotton candy cart.<\/p>\n<p>In the past few months, several university systems have dropped DEI mandates, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/university-of-north-carolina-repeals-dei-mandates-pledges-to-focus-on-institutional-neutrality\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">most recently<\/a> the University of North Carolina. The leadership board that governs the university system\u2019s policies voted in May to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/university-of-north-carolina-repeals-dei-mandates-pledges-to-focus-on-institutional-neutrality\/\" title=\"The University of North Carolina removes DEI requirements, prioritizes institutional neutrality\">repeal previous diversity<\/a>, equity, and inclusion policies. The school will instead have new neutrality-focused guidelines, and the university <a href=\"https:\/\/www.northcarolina.edu\/apps\/policy\/doc.php?type=pdf&#038;id=147\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> it was committed to free speech, academic freedom, and accepting different viewpoints and people.<\/p>\n<p>A Texas law also banned DEI programs and offices at public universities, which led to 60 DEI employees <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/at-least-60-staffers-laid-off-at-university-of-texas-as-dei-ban-takes-effect\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">getting laid off<\/a> at the University of Texas-Austin.<\/p>\n<p>Harvard University has also recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/harvard-nixes-dei-statements-as-requirement-for-faculty-employment-applications\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ended a requirement<\/a> for faculty to sign DEI statements as a condition of employment.<\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The University of Michigan allocated approximately $100,000 for its &#8220;DEI 2.0&#8221; celebration in October 2023, featuring an espresso bar, a hip-hop performance, and a lecture on &#8220;critical race theory and hip-hop.&#8221; Details emerged last month through a public records request reported by The College Fix<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":2265069,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/06\/GettyImages-1245940292-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2265068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/06\/GettyImages-1245940292-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2265068","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\/126"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2265068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2265068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2265069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2265068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2265068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2265068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}