The Zombie Apocalypse of DEI

Devouring Brains at UNK and other Universities

By Sue Greenwald, MD

The Insidious Threat of DEI

(The Acronym could also be DIE, which is a zombie pre-requisite)

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is a commonly used term to describe efforts to promote the fair treatment and full participation of all people. Proponents of DEI initiatives believe they help fight against discrimination. It’s estimated that in the past few years American companies have spent 3.4 billion dollars annually on DEI programs, with that number expected to exceed 15 billion dollars in the next few years.

Yet, in practice, DEI is considered an assault on the principles of higher education.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (“DEI”) is the contemporary expansion of the diversity doctrine.  “Equity” replaces the older idea of individual equality under the law with the idea that all social goods should be distributed in proportion to each ethnic group’s size relative to the total population. “Inclusion,” which violates the principles of freedom of association and individual merit, requires the extension of group-identity quotas to every part of society, public and private. This fixation on group-identity extends beyond race, as the proponents of DEI increasingly write “gender identity” into institutional policy. DEI ideologues share with their “anti-racist” peers the habit of suppressing their critics rather than answering their criticisms.

Furthermore, DEI is often used to infuse critical race theory into a classroom.

Critical Race Theory (“CRT”) is a branch of neo-Marxist social analysis….(which) achieved substantial influence among scholars focusing on education, and in the curricula of education schools. Proponents of CRT see themselves as liberating people from their illusions by showing them that American institutions are built on and continue to perpetuate racial oppression. They also believe they have a duty to subordinate all activities of life, and especially education, to CRT’s dis-illusioning project.

There is little to no evidence that DEI programs have any positive effects on education. Instead, it seems that DEI initiatives actually may increase inequity for marginalized populations while also creating a backlash. Rather than truly treating all people fairly, DEI initiatives are themselves discriminatory against people who represent the racial, ethnic, or religious majority of Americans. The poison becomes the cure as the DEI machine continues to profit, and graduates with degrees in “Social Justice” continue to find jobs. From Harvard Business Review:

Unconscious bias training rarely changes actual behaviors and has little impact on explicit biases. A meta-analysis of hundreds of prejudice-reduction interventions found few that unambiguously achieved their goals. Many popular interventions run the risk of backlash, strong adverse reactions that sustain or even worsen the inequity that practitioners attempt to eliminate.

This exploitative relationship, that purports to end inequity but instead sustains it at great cost to marginalized populations, has a name: the DEI-Industrial Complex.

The Zombies Have Escaped, and They Are Coming for You!

Indeed, DEI officers continue to pop up all over just like zombies in the graveyard—especially in higher education. The Heritage Foundation reported in an evaluation of 65 universities that the average university has 4.2 times more employees with specific responsibilities to promote DEI objectives than employees who provide services to students with disabilities.

In some of these schools, there were more staff dedicated to DEI than to teaching history.

Promoting DEI has become a primary function of higher education, with DEI staff making up an average 3.4 positions for every 100 tenured faculty.

But data show that colleges’ vast DEI bureaucracy has little relationship to students’ satisfaction with their college or their personal experiences with diversity.

The National Association of Scholars is but one academic association that has documented the many ways in which DEI initiatives degrade the quality of higher education

The spread of DEI has torn through barriers established to protect students and professors from ideological intrusion into their learning and research. By systemically dismantling academic freedom and reorienting the mission of America's universities, DEI’s followers have established themselves as the preeminent ideologues on America’s college campuses today.

This rapid and radical transformation of the American academy has left many outside these institutions bewildered. In an attempt to document the natural sciences’ conversion from seeking truth to forwarding political objectives, the National Association of Scholars commissioned this study, Ideological Intensification.

As DEI initiatives continue to devour higher education, there are people sounding the alarm. One example is the study of a “Diversity Action Plan” that was incorporated into the University of Tennessee in 2020. The study results are summarized:

We find in these plans nothing short of a blueprint for an institutional overhaul—the anatomy of a diversity, equity, and inclusion takeover. Such a takeover will have obvious implications for education at the University of Tennessee. True education will erode. Indoctrination will flourish. These plans, moreover, reveal in extensive detail what an exhaustive diversity, equity, and inclusion program looks like. Thus, our report provides a case study in the rolling revolution under way in academia.

Key takeaways from the study are bullet pointed in the article:

The Diversity Action Plans institute a far-reaching curriculum overhaul for every academic department. Departments in the university have adopted measures that will substantially alter the way students are taught.

The plans espouse an unmistakably ideological orientation. A committment to inserting “critical race theory” into its curriculum.

The plans make DEI an effective litmus test for professional advancement. Four departments require or recommend DEI statements from faculty job applicants. Several departments go further, requiring or recommending DEI as a formal requirement for tenure and promotion.

Running Home and Locking the Door Will Not Save You!

While many of us in Nebraska would like to think that this DEI-Industrial Complex is only affecting schools on the coasts or in politically liberal (aka blue) states, DEI initiatives have achieved a stranglehold on higher education right here in the Cornhusker state. The University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) provides one example of how DEI initiatives are being imposed upon our respected universities and colleges, to the detriment of all concerned.

The UNK Statement of Diversity & Inclusion that is supposed to be included on every course syllabus begins with the sentence:

“UNK stands in solidarity and unity with our students of color, our Latinx and international students, our LGBTQIA+ students and students from other marginalized groups in opposition to racism and prejudice in any form, wherever it may exist.”

The use of the terms “solidarity and unity”, commonly used in Marxist literature, are themselves loaded with political undertones. Furthermore, this statement seemingly discriminates against any student who is NOT “… of color, Latinx, international, LGBTQIA+, or from other marginalized groups.” Those students, comprised of the majority, CANNOT expect the university to stand with them in unity or solidarity in the face of prejudice.

This statement also implies that someone whose view is that marriage should be between one man and one woman can expect discord and opposition (antonyms for solidarity and unity) from UNK. Similarly, someone who holds the view that males and females are biologically different and therefore have a right to sex segregated spaces (such as bathrooms, locker rooms, or sporting competitions) can expect alienation and tension (more antonyms for solidarity and unity) from UNK.

The term Latinx, a word used by a small percentage of Americans of Latin American or Spanish origin, is considered demeaning and discriminatory by many. Overall, the first sentence of the UNK Statement of Diversity & Inclusion is exclusionary and discriminatory but that hasn’t stopped it from being imposed on every class at UNK.

In order to further promote DEI initiatives at UNK the university has two staff members with job titles specific to diversity. It has promoted a faculty member out of a teaching position and into the position of Chief Diversity Officer, and has also dedicated stipends for faculty to serve as Academic Diversity Officers within their respective colleges (the College of Arts & Sciences, the College of Education, and the College of Business & Technology).

The funded responsibilities of these diversity officers does not include teaching students, but instead focuses on implementing DEI objectives across the campus in a pattern that is nearly identical to the detrimental DEI initiative at the University of Tennessee. It is important to note that the current salary dedicated to UNK employees with DEI specific requirements is equal to or greater than the salary for two full time tenured professors. And yet, spending money on DEI staff at UNK has occurred in the face of budget cuts resulting in the elimination of six faculty positions—which includes firing four currently employed faculty members.

Take Cover and Man the Flame Throwers!

How can the expenditure of hundreds of thousands of dollars on DEI programs at UNK be justified while teaching professor’s positions are being cut? How can DEI initiatives that have been proven to be at best ineffective, and at worst counterproductive, do anything to improve the educational outcomes for the university students in Nebraska? Where is the evidence?

Something can be done about this in Nebraska. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is showing the way. He is auditing state sponsored institutions of higher education regarding the costs associated with DEI programs. No doubt the results will shock Florida taxpayers. No doubt a similar audit in Nebraska would be eye-opening. Knowledge is the first step to taking action.

DEI has become the reeking undead in the room that no one wants to talk about. The DEI-Industrial Complex is no longer consuming a small amount of taxpayer funds, and is no longer inconsequential to the college experience for faculty or students. We ignore this at our peril. It is time for Governor Pillen, our University Regents, our Nebraska State Legislature, and our state Auditor to strap on their flame throwers.

The DEI zombies devouring our Universities need to be sent back to the graveyard.

The author is a retired Pediatrician and a co-founder of Protect Nebraska Children Coalition.