Diversity, Equity, Inclusion

14 January 2025

The tragic death of George Floyd was the catalyst for a philosophical tsunami that inundated America in only a few months- "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion." Fostered by campaigns espousing "White Guilt" and similar mantras, corporations, governments and other organizations, especially institutions of higher learning, raced to convince the country that they were "not racists, misogynists or any other 'Ists' ' by throwing billions of dollars at any group, program or individual (think Black Lives Matter, Ibram X. Kendi) that would help them convince America of their political correctness.

DEI became a huge growth opportunity. Just Google "DEI Speakers," "DEI Authors," or "DEI Organizations" and prepare to be overwhelmed. DEI became a lucrative cottage industry costing billions of dollars—one study found The Department of Justice alone spent over $100 million on DEI training in the last four years, while The Department of Education spent over one billion dollars during that period.

At many colleges and universities, DEI departments were created overnight, and within a couple of years had deans of DEI, associate deans of DEI, assistant deans of DEI and huge staffs. Washington and Lee, traditionally a follower in education policy and innovation, fell in line.

Just a few years later, most Americans believe DEI is a failure, for it has not improved diversity or the results in American corporations, governments or other organizations, especially institutions of higher learning. The Supreme Court's decisions in the Harvard and University of North Carolina cases clarified than much of "Affirmative Action' was no more than long prohibited discrimination. In the last year, many large American corporations (Tractor Supply, Toyota, McDonalds just to name a few), governments (Florida is probably the best known) and institutions of higher learning ( such as The Universities of Michigan and North Carolina) have found that DEI does not improve diversity, but instead encourages identity politics and actually fosters racism. Studies establish that DEI has frequently decreased the quality of an organization's product or quality of employees, as the "E" has been claimed to ensure "equality in outcome" as opposed to "equality in opportunity."

Unfortunately, as detailed in the attached recent article from The Spectator, not only is DEI alive and well at Washington and Lee, but mandatory DEI training is a non-credit requirement for all freshmen. Read this account of the "training," taught by individuals whose training and political leanings are unknown and draw your own conclusions.

Click the below link to read The W&L Spectator's editorial, "The Numbered Days of DEI." And stay tuned for an upcoming eblast on the same subject, this time, written by an educator with close connections to our beloved Washington and Lee University.

https://www.wluspectator.com/articles/numbered-days-dei

Thank you for your kind support! Only together can we convince the university to ditch the wasteful mantra of DEI once and for all!

Stephen W. Robinson '72A, '75L
President