Defending De-Initio Programs on Campus: The Governor’s State Higher Education Plan Will Not Forget Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
DeSantis’ anti-DEI proposal would prohibit all public universities in the state from creating and funding DEI programs and would even block the use of private non-taxpayer funding for these purposes. He admits that the intention is to dry up resources for existing diversity programs so they won’t have to.
Diversity, equity and inclusion programs are intended to promote multiculturalism and encourage students of all races and backgrounds to feel comfortable in a campus setting, especially those from traditionally underrepresented communities. The state’s flagship school, the University of Florida, has a “Chief Diversity Officer,” a “Center for Inclusion and Multicultural Engagement” and an “Office for Accessibility and Gender Equity.”
Tuesday’s announcement was foreshadowed in December when the governor’s office asked all state universities to account for all of their spending on programs and initiatives related to diversity, equity and inclusion or critical race theory.
A 15-minute drive from New College of Florida, where the new board has a mandate to remake the school into his conservative vision for higher education, is where the announcement of his higher education agenda was made. DeSantis said his budget will include $15 million to restructure New College and hire faculty.
One of DeSantis’ new board members, Eddie Speir, wrote in an online post that he planned to propose in that meeting “terminating all contracts for faculty, staff and administration” of the school, “and immediately rehiring those faculty, staff and administration who fit in the new financial and business model.”
The presidents of the state’s two-year community colleges committed earlier this month to not teach critical race theory in a vacuum and to not fund or support any institutional practice, policy, or academic requirement that requires belief in critical race theory.
The director of the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project at Harvard Kennedy School is a Ford Foundation professor of history, race and public policy. The director of research at Iara is Erica Licht. The views in this commentary are of their own. Read more opinion at CNN.
Efforts such as those undertaken by DeSantis to undermine DEI programs on campus will undo decades of progress that colleges and universities have made, including urgent efforts in the last two years to address their histories of exclusion among women, people of color, LGBTQ people and other marginalized populations.
The move would effectively dismantle the relatively new efforts to address racial inequality in institutions of higher learning in the state, many of which were put in place following protests over the killing of George Floyd by police.
The removal of DEI programs at Florida colleges and universities is an attack on the methods used to improve retention and performance for students of color and a more racially diverse teaching faculty. But the positive effects of these programs are felt far beyond the classroom.
And the onslaught against DEI comes at the very time that business is embracing the benefits of such initiatives. Tech giants Slack and Intel are among numerous companies that have benefited from workplace DEI programs by focusing on building a more racially diverse staff as well as making structural changes that encourage more inclusive decision-making, hiring and contracting.
There is no shortage of studies suggesting the benefits of more diverse work environments. A 2015 study by McKinsey found that companies in the top quartile for ethnic and racial diversity in management were 35% more likely to have financial returns above their industry mean. And a 2020 Wall Street Journal report that examined the impact of diversity programs in American business found that diverse and inclusive corporate cultures “are providing companies with a competitive edge over their peers.”
Two years ago we started an open-sourced database, the race, research and policy portal which compiles peer-reviewed research publications on diversity, racial equity and antiracism. The database affords us a unique opportunity to discern and highlight important academic studies, which are often hidden behind subscription paywalls, and help changemakers find the tools they need.
Success in Diversity Education during the Era of Deirrational Investigations: A Case Study with Liera at a Private Higher Education University
At the same time as Florida is about to end DEI, other places around the country are doing the same, with experts in the field saying they often feel the work that they do is not appreciated and supported.
Here’s another example of DEI success: Román Liera, assistant professor of higher education in the Department of Educational Leadership at Montclair State University, revealed in his study how a DEI initiative at a private university enabled existing faculty to identify problems in hiring processes and make strategic changes.
He studied a religiously affiliated private university that included more staff members and administrators in the interview process, had new job descriptions, and training for search committees to increase their pool of junior faculty of color.
In a study, the University of Illinois Chicago and Shannon P. Clark showed how race-specific language can help improve communication among school leaders.
Meanwhile, avoiding the topic of race or using race-evasive language does not reduce racial disparities in student disciplinary action, and it stymies school improvement efforts. Research tells us that when educators are able to speak more explicitly about race and racism, they are more effective at developing school-based procedures, including disciplinary action, resulting in greater racial parity in student outcomes.