by James A. Bacon

Virginia Tech’s Board of Visitors has joined the University of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University in voting to dismantle its Diversity, Equity & Inclusion program. Of course, local media found minority students who are unhappy with the decision.

“I’m here on a scholarship for first-generation students, so I find these kinds of programs are super important to ensure that these voices are visible and heard,” Kaitlyn Guzman, a senior from Leesburg studying political science and Spanish, told The Virginia Cardinal. 

It turns out, according to a revealing figure in the Cardinal article, that 40 percent of Virginia Tech students are from so-called “under-represented” groups: primarily first-generation students (the first in their family to attend college).

Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court restricted the use of race in admissions, it seems that every public university in Virginia has discovered the virtue of increasing “first-generation” admissions. VCU, a much less selective institution than UVA or Tech, has defined its niche in Virginia’s higher-ed system for many years as serving first-gen students. Now everyone wants in on the first-gen action.

Many, if not most, of those students come from lower-income families and are getting financial aid. Trouble is, financial aid is expensive.

Who pays for financial aid? In some cases, philanthropists have endowed scholarships to cover the cost. The federal government provides grants and loans, and even the General Assembly chips in a few bucks. But in many cases, students who pay the full freight are subsidizing their lower-income peers.

I haven’t delved into the Virginia Tech business model, but the high-tuition/high-aid business model of the University of Virginia extracts more than 20% of a student’s tuition to defray the expense of financial aid. Virginia Tech board members might want to calculate how much wealth transfer is occurring at their institution.

Here’s a rule of thumb: increasing the percentage of first-generation students increases the demand for financial aid… which in turn increases the pressure to increase tuition… which increases the burden on students from middle-class families who are paying their way.

Reporters never seem to seek out and find those kinds of students to quote in their articles.

Here’s another thought: Virginia has a system of higher education in which different institutions serve different higher-ed markets. Community Colleges. Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Big state universities. Smaller liberal-arts colleges. Elite, nationally prominent institutions. They have different academic standards, different admissions criteria, different campus cultures, and different cost-of-attendance price points. But the leadership of these universities, especially the elite ones, have taken it upon themselves to reflect the full diversity of American society within their specific institution, as if no other institutions existed to fulfill that purpose.

Look, every higher-ed institution needs to be inviting to students of diverse demographic backgrounds. Every institution needs to be welcoming (inclusive) to all students who are admitted. Every institution should cast a wide net in soliciting admissions. However, not every institution needs to build its business model around increasing representation of first-gen students.

By threatening to yank federal research dollars, the Trump administration has coerced Virginia’s major research universities into dismantling their DEI programs. But it hasn’t converted the thinking of anyone, especially of university presidents, provosts or deans who have begun devising workarounds to preserve the substance of DEI — the fixation on racial/ethnic “identity,” the redress of historical injustices, and the admission of more “marginalized” minorities.

First-generation status may be a fallback position for the social-justice crowd, but it does capture racial/ethnic minorities who are disproportionately represented in the classification while side-stepping the unconstitutional exclusion of Whites and Asians. Expect to hear much more about first gens as the battle over DEI moves into the next phase.