by James C. Sherlock
It is the day to celebrate America’s freedoms. It is also a good day to enforce them.
United States Constitution, Amendment XIV, Section 1.
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.
No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Supreme Court decisions in the Harvard and UNC cases make unambiguously unconstitutional many elements of the way Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is currently implemented in colleges and universities.
For example, clearly there is no legal space between unconstitutional processes in the recruiting of students and the same processes in the recruiting and promotion of faculty.
None.
No state shall…. deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
More broadly, one can conclude it is illegal to treat students, faculty or staff differently in any way because of their races. Or their viewpoints.
It appears, therefore, that much of what the DEI bureaucracies currently do in state institutions of higher learning (IHL) has been defined by the Court as unacceptable under the 14th Amendment.
The Governor should ask the Attorney General for an opinion on the matter and act on that opinion.
Counsels for the state IHLs can already advise their clients based upon the Supreme Court decisions.
They are appointed by the AG and coordinate policy with his office.
