Chronicling the creeping demise of Diversity™, Equity™, and Inclusion™, otherwise known as institutionalized racism.
University of Michigan dean vows to valiantly press on with DEI, immediately deletes post
Two weeks ago, after the University of Michigan announced the demise of its anti-white, anti-male, anti-Christian, anti-heterosexual, and blatantly discriminatory DEI practices, a dean made his final stand in a letter that went semi-viral on social media.
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Via The Chronicle of Higher Education (emphasis added):
Despite the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor’s decision on Thursday to close its diversity, equity, and inclusion offices, one dean told his colleagues over the weekend that he has no intention of ending DEI.
“Diversity, equity, and inclusion will continue at the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design because our academic program and DEI initiatives are legally compliant, in alignment with our university values, and an extension of the mission of our school,” Carlos F. Jackson, who is also a tenured professor in the school, wrote.
This is pretty unambiguous language. Mr. Jackson, tenured professor, was apparently nobly choosing his principles (racism) above material concerns like his lucrative, taxpayer-subsidized salary.
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This is obviously brave and stunning — but maybe not so fast with the crowning him the next Rosa Parks or whatever.
Continuing:
As his letter to colleagues was being widely circulated on social media, the link became inactive, causing many to wonder if the administration had intervened.
On Monday, the campus’s provost, Laurie K. McCauley, issued a statement saying she had talked to Jackson. “He assured me that he had no intention of being misaligned with the changes announced in our Thursday communication,” she wrote. “He was attempting to signal to his community that the school would continue to be a welcoming place to teach and learn. He will be issuing a new communication to clear up any confusion his earlier message may have caused.”….
On Monday afternoon, the university’s media-relations office forwarded a revised message from Jackson. “It is imperative to affirm that the Stamps School will comply with the directive issued by University leadership on March 27, 2025, university policies, as well as state and federal laws,” the new statement said.
“My message on Friday should not be interpreted as a statement of non-compliance. It is my intention to ensure our faculty and staff have the solidity to continue building a community of respect, generosity, and accountability rooted in commitments of a future that includes people from all backgrounds and beliefs and allows them to flourish.”
The tough guy standing up to the MAGA bully caved pretty quickly.
Big tree fall hard.
‘The University doesn’t protect us, we do’
In a very long-winded and unnecessary manner of accusing the white supremacists who run the university of anti-BIPOC bigotry, the portion of the U-M newspaper reserved for commentary from Persons of Color™ blasted the university leadership for taking away their diversity cash.
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Via Michigan Daily (emphasis added):
On March 27, just one week after the discontinuation of the LEAD Scholars program, a merit-based scholarship initiative specifically created to support underrepresented minority undergraduate students, U-M administration unsurprisingly announced the termination of their diversity, equity and inclusion programs…
The University has never had the interests or protection of their marginalized students in mind. The cuts to DEI are a stark reminder of that. While students continue to organize for the right to exist and thrive* at this institution, the U-M administration has once again shown that they have no problem sacrificing the safety of their students** in exchange for donor approval.
*I have no idea what the “right to thrive” actually means in the context of students at a university, and I’m sure the “Michigan in Color Staff” who wrote this don’t either.
**How does ending explicitly racist cut-outs for Students of Color™ “sacrifice their safety”? They just say things, and no one in authority is there to challenge them for fear of being branded racist.
Continuing:
Diversity, equity and inclusion are not simply politically charged buzzwords. They have provided us with the scholarships that have helped fund our education, built us the cultural centers and lounges where we’ve established community, and created the policies that aimed — however imperfectly — to facilitate the acknowledgement and understanding of systemic inequalities.
Michigan in Color was founded as a commentary section of The Michigan Daily in response to the overwhelmingly resounding noise of doubt, erasure and minimization of the experiences of students of Color present on campus***…
From Selma and Soweto to Dhaka and even Ann Arbor — the seemingly endless list of regions shaped by student organizing serves as a firm challenge to those who doubt its lack of impact. Numerous components of our own campus that we take for granted have been built by student advocacy. Students have proven time and time again that we have the power and the capacity to advocate for change. The question, then, is whether we still have the tenacity to act.
***Amazing stuff. So the university newspaper gives Students of Color™ their very own commentary section, oodles of cash to set up “student centers,” and whatever else they demand, but somehow they are “erased” from the campus.
As the title of this screed — which is many, many words longer than the excerpts I quoted here — is “The University doesn’t protect us, we do,” it’s always dissonant to hear these people claim simultaneously that:
a.) “We don’t need no white savior, we’re strong and independent, just like Rosa.”
b.) “Restore my federal funding because we’re being erased.”
