https://www.americanthinker.com/
Universities are forums for the free exchange of ideas, for learning how to think, not what to think; for debate, not indoctrination. Unfortunately, that can no longer be said of American universities. Open inquiry and critical thinking untainted by ideology have been supplanted by leftist dogma, including Critical Race Theory and social justice advocacy. Except at the increasingly rare institution offering a classical liberal arts education, it has become impossible for impressionable students to earn a degree without becoming steeped in leftist rhetoric and the extreme ideas of race and gender. They end up believing that America was built on racism and defining themselves as either oppressors or victims.
These ideological intrusions were insidiously mainstreamed from the seventies onward, especially in the humanities departments, by gradually building an ecosystem fostering faculty members who are left-leaning and sidelining those who are not. Universities are now taking this to the next level by precluding the recruitment of independent thinkers and conservatives. They are requiring prospective faculty to submit a loyalty oath to the tenets of diversity, inclusion, and equity (DIE; sometimes DEI) as a de facto litmus test of their political affiliation.
Examples abound of universities where DIE statements are a prerequisite for consideration for any job. At Arizona’s public universities, they are a standard feature of the hiring process for all faculty, professional, and staff positions. Some institutions in the state require prospective candidates to demonstrate their allegiance to DIE ideology even before a review of their qualifications takes place. At the University of Washington, support for DIE principles is de rigueur, and faculty applicants must justify their commitment by describing their past actions and explaining how they will continue to pursue DIE goals if appointed. The University of Pennsylvania website gives applicants guidelines for composing effective DIE statements. And at all campuses of the University of California (U.C.), faculty applicants must submit DIE statements that will determine if they merit consideration, regardless of their academic credentials or their teaching and research plans. From their statements, applicants are evaluated for DIE awareness and experience and their plans for advancing DIE on campus. They must agree to treat individuals differently based on their race, sex, and gender identity.
