Tomorrow, June 2, there will be a meeting of the Board of Visitors at the University of Virginia.
The University has published a preview of a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion presentation to the Board.
That presentation is designed quite clearly to deflect the conversation from the true issues. It attempts to:
- center the discussions on issues the university president wishes to defend; and
- define terms in ways he wishes to defend them.
I offer some questions and observations.
Slide: Racial and gender diversity at UVA are relatively new – and our DEI work is even newer. The presentation is off to a weak start. Setting the stage for the DEI discussion with race and gender is a deflection.
For example, white students have been underrepresented in the undergraduate and graduate school populations at UVa since at least 2010 as compared to whites in the population as a whole in both the United States and Virginia. Females outnumber males in the UVa student population by roughly 60% to 40%.
Those are facts. They raise the question of the true reason for the recent expansion of DEI bureaucracy.
Let’s see if we can find it. Continue reading