在過去的幾年裏，幾個州的公民發布了關於公立學院和大學在所謂的“多元化、公平和包容”(DEI) 管理方麵的支出的報告——最著名的是緬因州、愛達荷州、田納西州和北部的那些州 卡羅來納州。 本月，又發布了兩份此類報告：一份針對德克薩斯大學奧斯汀分校，由全國學者協會 (NAS) 發布，另一份針對弗吉尼亞，由 NAS 的弗吉尼亞分支機構弗吉尼亞學者協會 (VAS) 發布 ).
VAS 報告記錄了 DEI 人員的支出，列出了弗吉尼亞州 15 所公立學校的低級和高級管理人員的頭銜和薪水。 這比之前的大多數報告都更加詳細，調查結果令人震驚：2020 年，弗吉尼亞州立學校在 DEI 管理上花費了超過 1500 萬美元。 而且，正如報告明確指出的那樣，這是支出的下限，因為報告隻計算工資，不包括間接費用、福利待遇以及其他教職員工為 DEI 會議、培訓、 和雜項活動，包括學生迎新活動。
更重要的是，這些數字是 2020 年的數據。從那時起，所有接受調查的學校都承諾增加 DEI 支出。 事實上，弗吉尼亞大學 (UVA) 和詹姆斯麥迪遜大學 (JMU) 這兩所擁有 2021 年數據的學校——在那一年的時間跨度內幾乎翻了一番他們的 DEI 支出。 JMU 在 2020 年為 33 名 DEI 管理員花費了 2,566,326 美元，但在 2021 年為其中的 65 名管理員花費了 5,302,266 美元； UVA 在 2020 年為 38 個 DEI 管理員花費了 4,149,732 美元，但在 2021 年為其中的 77 個管理員花費了 6,924,279 美元。
那麽，我們可以放心地假設，該報告的數字已經被嚴重低估，這使得調查結果更加發人深省。 弗吉尼亞大會已經注意到； 本屆立法會議提出的一項新法案 HB 1800 希望提高這些支出的透明度，並更頻繁地向立法機關報告增長率。
報告提醒讀者，花在DEI上的錢永遠不是花在真正的教育需求上的錢，比如書籍、電腦、實驗室、教授、講師和學生獎學金。 該報告估計，2020 年在 DEI 上花費的 1500 萬美元可以資助 150 名全職教授或 1100 名學生的全額學費獎學金。
關於這一趨勢可以說很多——當然，這一趨勢並不局限於弗吉尼亞，正如其他報告所顯示的那樣，而是在全國範圍內——但最好從基礎開始。
首先，盡管 DEI 的口號聽起來很悅耳（誰能反對“公平”？），但它實際上是一種特洛伊木馬——一種破壞性的意識形態，主要基於種族和性別，使美國人相互對立。
更糟糕的是，DEI 及其衍生運動如批判種族理論 (CRT) 也是怨恨的委婉說法。 他們將美國人按種族或性別劃分，然後將這些群體標記為“壓迫者”（壞）或“被壓迫者”（好），並根據這種狀態給予或拒絕給予好處。 例如，在 2021 年秋天，詹姆斯麥迪遜大學的學生指導負責人被告知，“壓迫者”群體（壞的）包括基督徒、白人、男性、西歐人和……美國人！
DEI 不僅忽視了世界其他地區更嚴重的種族動蕩，而且完全忽視了個人的作用——個人性格、個人才能和個人行業——這是美國方式的核心。 美國是個人的機會之地，而不是精心挑選的群體。 這種美國傳統使美國成為世界上許多窮人和受迫害者希望居住的國家。
總之，DEI 是一種原始的、非美國的部落主義。
其次，雖然 DEI 已經夠糟糕了，但它的影響更糟，因為它取代了美國學生的真正教育。 每一項可靠的調查都表明，美國大學畢業生越來越無知（一些調查表明他們在大學期間失去了知識！），並且越來越不具備高等教育所需的技能，例如閱讀理解、高等數學以及分析和說服性寫作。 美國大學畢業生對美國曆史和公民知之甚少，對世界曆史、地理或基本金融知之甚少。
最後一項不僅僅是學術性的。 正如大多數人所聽到的那樣，拜登政府與民主黨政客一起提議利用美國納稅人來救助無法償還學生貸款的大學畢業生。 NAS 一直表示，學院和大學是這場爭議中真正的惡棍，因為他們得到了所有的錢，但沒有債務。 NAS 提倡學校在大學財務方麵“參與其中”——也就是說，他們對收到的大部分學生貸款負有責任。
但問題是，美國學生甚至不了解他們承擔的貸款——現在其他人都不知道
In the past few years, citizens in several states have published reports on spending by public colleges and universities for so-called “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) administration—most notably, those in Maine, Idaho, Tennessee, and North Carolina. This month, two more such reports were issued: one for the University of Texas at Austin, published by the National Association of Scholars (NAS), and another for Virginia, published by the Virginia affiliate of NAS, the Virginia Association of Scholars (VAS).
The VAS report documents spending on DEI personnel, listing titles and salaries for both low- and high-level administrators at fifteen of Virginia's state schools. This is a greater level of detail than most of the prior reports, and the findings are shocking: In 2020, Virginia state schools spent over $15 million dollars on DEI administration. And, as the report makes clear, this is the lower bound of expenditures, since the report counts only salaries, excluding hidden costs such as overhead, benefits packages, and the time and attention required of other staff and faculty for DEI meetings, trainings, and miscellaneous events, including student orientations.
What's more, these figures are from 2020. Since that time, all the schools surveyed pledged to increase their DEI spending. Indeed, the two schools which had numbers available for 2021—the University of Virginia (UVA) and James Madison University (JMU)—almost doubled their DEI spending in that one-year time span. JMU spent $2,566,326 for 33 DEI administrators in 2020, but $5,302,266 for 65 of them in 2021; UVA spent $4,149,732 for 38 DEI administrators in 2020, but $6,924,279 for 77 of them in 2021.
One can safely assume, then, that the report's numbers are already a dramatic undercount, which makes the findings that much more sobering. The Virginia General Assembly has already taken note; one new bill introduced this legislative session, HB 1800, wants more transparency for these expenditures and more frequent reports to the legislature about the rate of increase.
The report reminds readers that money spent on DEI is always money not spent on real educational needs, such as books, computers, laboratories, professors, instructors, and student scholarships. The report estimates that the $15 million spent on DEI in 2020 could have funded 150 full-time professors or 1,100 full-tuition scholarships for students.
Much could be said about this trend—a trend not limited to Virginia, of course, as the other reports show, but one that is national in scope—but it's always best to start with the basics.
First, despite the pleasant sound of the DEI slogan (who could oppose "equity"?) it is actually a Trojan Horse—a destructive ideology that pits Americans against one another, primarily based on race and sex.
Worse, DEI and its spin-off movements like Critical Race Theory (CRT) are also euphemisms for resentment. They divide Americans by race- or sex-based groups and then brand these groups as "oppressors" (bad) or "oppressed" (good), with benefits given or denied based on this status. In the fall of 2021, for example, student orientation leaders at James Madison University were told that “oppressor” groups (bad) included Christians, whites, males, Western Europeans and ... Americans!
DEI not only ignores far worse racial unrest in other areas of the world but also completely disregards the role of the individual—individual character, individual talent, and individual industry—that is so central to the American way. America is the land of opportunity for individuals, not cherry-picked groups. This American tradition makes the United States the country where many of the world's poor and persecuted wish to live.
In sum, DEI is a crude, un-American tribalism.
Second, while DEI is bad enough, its effects are even worse since it displaces real education for American students. Every reliable survey shows that American college graduates are increasingly ignorant (some surveys show they lose knowledge during college!) as well as increasingly incompetent in skills expected in higher education such as reading comprehension, advanced mathematics, and analytical and persuasive writing. American college graduates know little about American history and civics, and even less about world history, geography, or basic finance.
This last item is not just academic. As most have heard, the Biden administration, along with Democratic politicians, have proposed tapping American taxpayers to bail out college graduates who cannot repay their student loans. NAS has consistently said that colleges and universities are the real villains in this controversy since they get all the money but none of the debt. NAS advocates that schools have "skin in the game" of college finance—that is, that they be liable for a large portion of the student loan dollars they receive.
But the point is that American students do not even understand the loans they assume—and now others are being asked to bail them out.
In truth, both American students and American taxpayers are paying more and more for college and getting less and less education, as schools hire more and more DEI ideologues. The result? Not only taxpayers left holding the bag but graduates who are ignorant, resentful debt slaves instead of virtuous, patriotic young Americans.
This cannot continue.
Let's hope state officials around the country, not just in Virginia, take note and do something to stop the insanity of throwing good money at bad programs.
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