DEI programs in the news

[Langue_doc]

I still wonder what diversity officers spend their time doing.

Some of them send emails defining privilege, which according to the former Diversity Officer at Johns Hopkins, includes among others "white people, heterosexuals, cisgender people, men, and Christians". 

Chief Diversity Officer Steps Down Amid Backlash Over 'Privilege' Email

Dr. Sherita Hill Golden has stepped down from her role as vice president and chief diversity officer at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

The act comes two months after backlash for an email newsletter in which Golden explained the concept of privilege, according to reporting from The Baltimore Sun. In the January newsletter from the Baltimore hospital and research center's diversity office, Golden wrote that "privilege" was the "word of the month," defining it as "a set of unearned benefits given to people who are in a specific social group." The social groups were categorized, in part, as white people, heterosexuals, cisgender people, men, and Christians.

[apl68]

In announcing the change, M.I.T.'s president, Sally Kornbluth, said diversity statements constituted a form of compelled speech that do not work.

If they don't work, they wouldn't have to be abolished. Problem is they do work in selecting faculty.

I disagree. I have seen some that were so cringeworthy we were able to avoid wasting our time interviewing the candidate.

Why were they cringeworthy?  What does someone say in a DEI statement that is so wrong it eliminates them as a job candidate?

Trying to remember specifics.

• One just wrote "I have no idea what to say here."
• Another made a point about making sure to compliment immigrants on their English.
• "I talk to everyone, CEO to janitor, top to bottom."

That sort of thing. People who are more about making the point that they see humanity in those others might see as sub-human or inferior as opposed to being reasonably educated about why a college with a diverse student population might be asking such a question.

I cringe just reading that middle one now....

[Dismal]

Trying to remember specifics.

• One just wrote "I have no idea what to say here."
• Another made a point about making sure to compliment immigrants on their English.
• "I talk to everyone, CEO to janitor, top to bottom."

I cringe just reading that middle one now....

Maybe 20 years ago my U at that time was trying to get faculty to engage with diversity issues and a newsletter touted the successes so far. A faculty member in STEM wrote that he was trying to become more knowledgeable about student culture and so he had assigned math problems involving the number of tacos. We hoped it was a joke but the diversity office seemed to think it was real.   

[Ruralguy]

Truthfully, we've had some job candidates who were fairly cringy on a wide-range of topics. But I can see how DEI might bring out the worst of such tendencies.

[spork]

[. . .]

• Another made a point about making sure to compliment immigrants on their English.

[. . .]

Odd that this qualifies as a "wrong" response. I complimented an immigrant on her English. Now we are married, which makes me more diverse.

Now where did I put my "Gays for Gaza" t-shirt?

[dismalist]

[. . .]

• Another made a point about making sure to compliment immigrants on their English.

[. . .]

Odd that this qualifies as a "wrong" response. I complimented an immigrant on her English. Now we are married, which makes me more diverse.

Now where did I put my "Gays for Gaza" t-shirt?

"I talk to everyone, CEO to janitor, top to bottom."

That one's my favorite, and I do talk to everyone. As proof I offer the following occurrence: Two security guards, both Black, were chatting near the entrance to a lecture hall, discussing what one could get out of life. As they saw me approaching one said to the other: Dismalist would say "life wasn't meant to be easy". We knew each other that well.

[treeoflife]

I still wonder what diversity officers spend their time doing.

Some of them send emails defining privilege, which according to the former Diversity Officer at Johns Hopkins, includes among others "white people, heterosexuals, cisgender people, men, and Christians". 

Chief Diversity Officer Steps Down Amid Backlash Over 'Privilege' Email

Dr. Sherita Hill Golden has stepped down from her role as vice president and chief diversity officer at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

The act comes two months after backlash for an email newsletter in which Golden explained the concept of privilege, according to reporting from The Baltimore Sun. In the January newsletter from the Baltimore hospital and research center's diversity office, Golden wrote that "privilege" was the "word of the month," defining it as "a set of unearned benefits given to people who are in a specific social group." The social groups were categorized, in part, as white people, heterosexuals, cisgender people, men, and Christians.

A correction is unfolding in the DEI space before our eyes. This is a good thing, we need DEI initiatives but we need correction to the discourse.