by James C. Sherlock
In order to illustrate the truly insulting nature of the DEI program at the University of Virginia, I offer the following quiz.
See if you can pick out the person pictured who:
directs a range of educational programming focused on educational development for staff, faculty and students.
Nana Last, Professor of Architecture
Ira C. Harris, Professor, McIntyre School of Commerce
Sankaran Venkataraman, Professor, Darden School of Business
Sandhya Dwarkadas, Professor and Chair Department of Computer Science
Tisha Hayes, Professor of Education
Trinh Thuan, Professor Emeritus, Department of Astronomy
Kelsey Johnson Professor of Astronomy
Haibo Dong Professor Aerospace Engineering
Sly Mata, Director of Diversity Education, Division for DEI
Nicole Thorne Jenkins, Dean, McIntyre School of Commerce
Devin K. Harris, Professor of Engineering
Mool C. Gupta, Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Tomonari Furukawa, Professor of Engineering
Allan Tsung M.D., Professor and Chair Department of Surgery, Medical School
Sallie Keller, Professor of Data Science
Harsha Chelliah, Professor School of Engineering
Bottom line. Good guess.
There is every evidence that Mr. Mata is a fine man. His biography is inspiring.
But the people pictured above who are not Mr. Mata excelled and earned their plaudits and appointments before there was a UVa Division for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Even before James Ryan was President.
It must be a source of embarrassment to the University faculty, and it certainly is to alumni, that Mr. Ryan, panicked by national events in 2020, has parachuted in people to oversee faculty, staff and student progressive political correctness and their “educational development” and to police their speech.
To teach these extraordinary people how to be “sensitive” to gender and race issues.
These very distinguished people (read at the link) earned what they have. It is pretty clear they already know how to teach, research and lead.
They don’t deserve to be “overseen” by political commissars. But most who don’t agree with the policy are controlled by specific and credible threats to their careers.
Ask Loren Lamasky. Professor Lomasky, pursued relentlessly by DEI functionaries, is best known for his work in moral and political philosophy.
Loren Lomasky
Cory Professor of Political Philosophy, Policy & Law
Moral philosophy is not high on the list of valued subjects at today’s University of Virginia.
TJ. For additional insight into Virginia mistakes, look at the University of Virginia’s Data Science and Engineering and Applied Science faculties.
Perhaps that will convince Northern Virginians that the “too many Asians” changes to the admissions criteria at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology were as counterproductive as they seemed to most of the rest of us at the time.
