DEI initiatives have struggled in America over the past three years
While lofty goals are commendable in any organization, it is important not to overlook tangible results. When Boston University (BU) hired Ibram X. Kendi in 2020, he made a pledge to “solve seemingly intractable racial problems of our time.” As a scholar-activist who believes that racial disparities stem from racist policies, and that a policy is racist if it leads to racial disparities, Kendi was given the resources and mandate to establish an academic center. He promised degree programs, racial justice training modules, and more. However, despite raising nearly $55 million, his Center for Antiracist Research has had minimal output and has had to lay off about half of its staff of 40. The center has also announced plans to scale back its operations.
Saida Grundy, a sociology professor at BU who briefly worked for the center, expressed her concerns about the center’s use of grant money and ”management culture” to the Boston Globe. The university is currently investigating these issues. Even those who initially supported Kendi’s hiring now view the center as mere posturing by BU. Phillipe Copeland, a professor of social work at BU who spent two years at the center, says, “We marched for change and what did we get? Murals, right? The center is the equivalent of a mural.”
This controversy arises at a time when diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in higher education are being reevaluated. These initiatives gained momentum during Donald Trump’s presidency and after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. One aspect of this push involved hiring more administrators focused on diversity. In 2021, the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank, found that 65 universities, representing 16% of four-year students, employed 3.4 DEI staff for every 100 tenured faculty. Many institutions also began requiring tenure candidates to submit statements outlining their commitment to DEI.
2023-09-28 09:10:08
Original from www.economist.com
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